Chapter 7: The Woman Who Was Supposed to Carry the Baby
Nina stared at Marcus as though he had spoken a language she didn't understand.
“Say that again.””
Marcus glanced at Darius, who had gone so pale that he looked ready to collapse.
“The original plan was for you to carry the baby,” Marcus said quietly.
“Lauren was supposed to be a backup.””
Nina shook her head.
“No. That's impossible.””
“I wish it were.””
“I've never met Victor Hale. I've never agreed to any surrogacy arrangement. And nobody has ever told me that I was supposed to carry a child.””
Marcus lowered his eyes.
“That's because the agreement was changed without your knowledge.””
Nina turned toward Darius.
“Explain.””
He looked at the floor.
“Darius!””
He flinched.
“I was trying to protect you.””
She laughed once, sharply.
“You keep using those words as if they excuse everything you've done.””
“I didn't want you to get hurt.””
“Then tell me the truth.””
Darius took a breath.
“After our last fertility treatment failed, I spoke to a specialist about other options. I wanted us to have a child, but I also knew how much another medical procedure would cost you emotionally.””
“So you decided I couldn't make my own decision?””
“No. I just wanted to explore the possibilities.””
“Without telling me.””
He swallowed.
“Yes.””
Nina folded her arms.
“Keep going.””
Darius rubbed his face.
“Victor had connections with a private fertility clinic. He offered to finance a treatment program that would give us another chance at having a baby.””
“Why would a stranger finance our fertility treatment?””
“Because he said he wanted to help.””
Nina stared at him.
“And you believed him?””
“I thought he was a legitimate investor.””
Marcus let out a bitter laugh.
“He knew exactly how to make people believe what they wanted to believe.””
Darius turned on him.
“You don't get to lecture me. You stole three million dollars.””
“I took the money before Victor could move it into accounts that would make it impossible to trace.””
“You could have gone to the police!””
“And let him destroy every record connecting him to the fraud?””
Nina stepped between them.
“Enough. Both of you.””
The brothers fell silent.
She turned back to Darius.
“What did Victor want in exchange for paying for our treatment?””
Darius hesitated.
That hesitation was becoming familiar.
“He wanted access to some of our financial accounts,” he admitted.
“He said the clinic needed a financial sponsor to cover the treatment costs.””
“Which accounts?””
“Our joint investment account. And eventually the company account.””
Nina's stomach tightened.
“So the money he gave you for the treatment was never really for the treatment.””
“Some of it was.””
“Some?””
Darius looked away.
Nina understood.
The arrangement had been designed to make the transfers appear legitimate. Medical expenses. Agency fees.
A trust for the child's future. Every transaction had a plausible explanation, and every explanation had been constructed to keep her from asking questions.
“And Lauren?”” Nina asked.
Marcus answered.
“Victor's people approached her through the clinic. She believed she was helping a couple who couldn't conceive.””
Nina thought of Lauren in the hospital bed, crying as she held her newborn.
“She was deceived too.””
“Yes,” Marcus said.
“But we don't yet know everything she was told.””
Darius stepped forward.
“I never wanted this to happen.””
Nina turned toward him.
“You wanted a baby so badly that you were willing to lie to me, lie to Lauren, and risk our home. Don't tell me you never wanted this to happen. You wanted the result without accepting the consequences.””
He looked as though she had struck him.
For once, he didn't argue.
Nina picked up her phone and reread the threatening message.
*YOU HAVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT TO BRING US THE BLUE NOTEBOOK. OTHERWISE, THE BABY'S REAL PARENTS WILL BE IDENTIFIED.*
“Marcus,” she said, “what does 'real parents' mean?””
He hesitated.
“I don't know exactly what Victor intends to claim.””
“Is Darius the baby's biological father?””
Marcus looked at his brother.
Darius's face changed.
Nina felt a cold wave move through her body.
“Darius?””
He swallowed.
“I don't know.””
She stared at him.
“How can you not know?””
“The clinic handled everything. They told me the embryo came from the genetic material we'd agreed to use.””
“We never agreed to use any genetic material!””
“I know that now.””
“No. You knew you hadn't told me. You knew you hadn't received my consent. And you still signed those documents.””
Darius lowered his head.
Marcus pulled out his phone.
“There may be another way to find out.””
He opened an email and showed Nina a scanned page from the clinic.
It listed the date of the embryo transfer, the name of the laboratory, and a code associated with the genetic material.
Nina studied the page.
“What am I looking at?””
“A record from the original treatment file,” Marcus explained.
“I recovered it from a backup account before I disappeared.””
“Why would you have that?””
“Because I suspected Victor was using the clinic to conceal financial transactions. The treatment records were connected to payments made through his companies.””
Nina looked at the document again.
One line had been highlighted.
*GENETIC MATERIAL SOURCE: DONOR FILE 47-B.*
She pointed to it.
“What does that mean?””
“It means the embryo may not have been created using Darius's genetic material.””
Darius stepped closer.
“That's impossible.””
Marcus looked at him.
“Is it? Did you ever see a laboratory report?””
Darius said nothing.
Nina felt sick.
She had spent years blaming herself for their inability to conceive. She had undergone blood tests, hormone treatments, and invasive procedures, all while believing she and Darius were facing the same problem together.
Now she was discovering that he had secretly arranged a pregnancy using a clinic he barely understood.
“Why would Victor care about the baby's genetic parentage?”” she asked.
Marcus's expression darkened.
“Because donor file 47-B belongs to someone connected to the missing-person investigation.””
“Who?””
Before Marcus could answer, Nina's phone rang.
Lauren.
Nina answered immediately.
“Lauren? What's wrong?””
The young woman's voice trembled.
“They're here.””
Nina stood.
“Who's there?””
“Two men. They came to the maternity ward asking for the baby. They said they were from the agency, but the nurse couldn't verify their identification.””
Nina's heart began to race.
“Where are you now?””
“In the room. Security has been called, but one of them showed the nurse a document claiming he has legal authority to take the baby.””
“Don't let anyone take him.””
“I'm trying!””
A muffled voice sounded in the background.
Then Lauren whispered, “Nina, one of them just said the baby's name.””
Nina gripped the phone.
“What name?””
Lauren began to cry.
“He called him Daniel Reed.””
The room went silent.
Marcus's face drained of color.
Darius backed away from the table.
Nina looked at them both.
“Who is Daniel Reed?””
Marcus closed his eyes.
“Samuel's son.””
Nina's breath caught.
“Samuel Reed disappeared six months after Marcus. How could this baby be his son?””
Marcus looked at Darius.
“Because Samuel wasn't the only person who knew about the clinic's donor program.””
Darius whispered something Nina couldn't hear.
Marcus's expression hardened.
“Tell her.””
Darius shook his head.
“Not now.””
“Tell her!””
Darius looked at Nina, his eyes full of fear.
“Samuel's wife died shortly before he disappeared. He believed their son had died with her.””
Nina stared at him.
“But the baby is alive.””
“Yes.””
“And someone used Lauren to carry him.””
Darius nodded.
Nina felt the pieces forming in her mind, but they didn't fit together yet.
“Why would anyone hide a child from his own father?””
Marcus answered quietly.
“Because Samuel had evidence against Victor, and Victor needed leverage.””
Nina's phone crackled.
Lauren was crying harder now.
“Nina, they're saying they have a court order. The nurse is checking it, but I don't know how much time we have.””
“Stay with the baby. I'm coming.””
Nina ended the call.
Darius reached for his jacket.
“I'm coming with you.””
She turned on him.
“No.””
“Nina, please. This is my responsibility too.””
“You've done enough.””
“If those men are connected to Victor, they'll know who I am.””
“Exactly.””
She looked at Marcus.
“Can you get us to the hospital safely?””
He nodded.
“Then let's go.””
As Nina reached for her purse, Marcus caught her arm.
“There's something else you need to understand.””
She pulled away.
“Not another secret.””
“This one matters.””
He took a breath.
“The clinic didn't just use a donor file. They altered the records to make it appear that the embryo belonged to a different couple.””
Nina's blood ran cold.
“Whose records?””
Marcus looked directly into her eyes.
“Yours.””
For a moment, the room seemed to tilt.
Nina gripped the back of a chair.
“You're saying the clinic used my medical information?””
“I'm saying someone created a file under your name.””
“But I never had an embryo transfer.””
“I know.””
“Then how could they use my records?””
Marcus's voice dropped.
“Because the person who authorized the file had access to your identity, your medical history, and your signature.””
Nina turned slowly toward Darius.
He couldn't meet her eyes.
She understood then that the baby was not the only thing someone had tried to take from her.
They had taken her choices, her privacy, and the truth about her own body.
And somewhere inside that clinic was a record designed to make it look as though she had agreed to all of it.
Nina grabbed her keys.
“Let's go.””
But before she reached the front door, Marcus's phone rang.
He looked at the screen and stopped walking.
“What is it?”” Nina demanded.
He answered without speaking.
A man's voice came through the speaker.
“Marcus Carter. We've been waiting a long time for you to come home.””
Marcus's face went rigid.
The caller continued.
“Bring the blue notebook to the hospital. Come alone.””
Then the man added one final sentence.
“Or we'll tell Nina who really signed the original donor agreement.””
The call ended.
Marcus lowered the phone.
Nina stared at him.
“Who signed it?””
May you like
Marcus didn't answer.
And for the first time, Nina began to wonder whether her husband's brother had returned to protect her—or to make sure she never discovered the last secret he had buried.
