Chapter 4 - THE FIRST WIFE
Sarah surrendered to federal investigators after Rebecca released part of the old video to the press.
She entered the hospital under guard.
Thin.
Scarred.
Older than the photograph.
Alive.
She stood at the end of my bed and said, “I did not sign those papers.”
Her death certificate was false.
Her marriage to Ryan was real.
Years earlier, she had married Jason first.
That made her Jason’s first wife and Ryan’s current wife.
The brothers passed her between identities, insurance policies, and legal relationships depending on which arrangement benefited them.
Sarah discovered financial fraud connected to the Carter family’s construction company.
Jason chained her in the basement to force a property transfer.
Ryan helped.
Kyle filmed.
After Sarah escaped, Margaret hid her in a private clinic and declared her dead.
Ryan later married her secretly under a different surname.
He claimed he wanted to protect her from Jason.
Instead, he controlled her through medication and fear.
When Sarah could not become pregnant, Margaret proposed using another woman.
Me.
Sarah said she refused.
Then Margaret threatened to return her to Jason.
“I signed one medical consent,” Sarah said. “It authorized fertility testing. They turned it into a surrogacy agreement.”
“Did you know about the embryo?”
“Not until after they implanted it.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I tried.”
The anonymous messages I dismissed as scams came from her.
YOUR HUSBAND ISN’T THE FATHER.
CHECK THE BASEMENT.
ASK ABOUT SARAH.
Jason told me jealous women were harassing him.
I believed him.
Sarah accepted that without asking forgiveness.
She handed Ortiz a key.
It opened a storage unit registered to Margaret Carter.
Inside were legal files, medical supplies, old phones, and videos from multiple basements.
Four women appeared.
Sarah.
A woman named Melissa.
A woman named June.
And me.
Melissa and June had also been married to Carter brothers under false records.
Both were listed as dead.
The videos suggested one might still be alive.
The storage unit also contained maternity files for six pregnancies.
Five ended before delivery.
Mine was labeled SUCCESSFUL CARRIER.
The others were not miscarriages.
They were terminated after the embryos failed genetic screening.
My daughter had passed whatever test the family required.
Then Ortiz opened Margaret’s private ledger.
Beside my child’s profile were three words.
FEMALE — REPLACEMENT HOST.
May you like
They did not want only the baby.
They intended to use my daughter the way they used me.
