Chapter 3 - THE PREGNANCY I DID NOT CHOOSE
Dr. Reed reviewed every record from my pregnancy.
My original fertility clinic had closed five years earlier.
Its files had been transferred to Carter Pediatric Research Center.
That was strange because it had not been a pediatric pregnancy.
We conceived Luke after three years of infertility.
At least, that was what I believed.
Brandon and I completed one round of treatment.
The clinic told us the embryo came from my egg and Brandon’s sample.
The new archive showed the donor field had been replaced after implantation.
My egg had been used.
The sperm had not belonged to Brandon.
Someone selected another donor without telling either of us.
The program had designed Luke genetically.
Brandon’s independent test confirmed zero probability of paternity.
He sat beside the hospital window, staring at nothing.
“I was there for every appointment.”
“So was Madeline,” I said.
Madeline admitted arranging the substitution.
She called it necessary.
Brandon’s family carried a weak version of the cardiac marker.
The donor carried the stronger form.
My genetics made the combination viable.
Luke had been created as Subject 14 because the first thirteen children had not produced stable results.
“Who is the donor?” I asked.
Madeline refused.
“You’ll use the name to destroy him.”
“He used my body.”
“He donated legally.”
“Not for this pregnancy.”
Silence answered.
Detective Ortiz traced the note beneath Luke’s pillow to a fingerprint.
Rebecca Carter.
Brandon’s older sister.
He had always told me Rebecca died before we met.
Madeline said the same.
There was no death certificate.
Only a family memorial service and an urn that had never been opened.
Rebecca had worked at the research center.
She discovered the embryo substitutions and tried to expose them.
Then she disappeared.
The note suggested she was alive and inside the hospital.
Security footage showed a woman in scrubs entering through a stairwell. Her face remained hidden, but she wore a silver bracelet Brandon recognized.
Their father gave it to Rebecca at graduation.
Madeline saw the image.
Her composure vanished.
“She should not be here.”
“Where has she been?” Brandon asked.
“She made choices.”
“What choices?”
“She chose those children over her family.”
Madeline’s words revealed more than she intended.
Rebecca had protected the subjects.
Possibly Noah.
Possibly Luke.
Ortiz located an old email account connected to her.
The latest draft was written that morning.
If Luke collapses, Madeline will move him to the research center under emergency guardianship. Do not let her take him.
That explained the poisoned cake.
Madeline needed a public medical event severe enough to justify transfer.
The emergency petition had been prepared in advance.
Her kick broke the bowl because the dose was intended to trigger symptoms, not death.
She controlled even the violence.
Then Dr. Reed received a transfer order signed by a federal judge.
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Luke was to be moved immediately to Carter Pediatric Research Center.
The judge was Madeline’s brother.
