Chapter 14: The Baby That May Have Been Real
For several seconds, Daniel couldn't look away from the screen.
The document authorized a fertility procedure.
It contained Claire's signature, a physician's approval, and a second signature attributed to Daniel.
The date was eight months earlier.
Three days before Claire announced her pregnancy.
“Rachel,” he said, “I never signed that.””
“I believe you. But we need to establish whether the signature was forged and whether the procedure was ever performed.””
Daniel pointed to the patient identification number.
“That's Vanessa's number.””
“Yes.””
“So what does this mean?””
Rachel took a slow breath.
“It could mean someone attempted to use Vanessa's stored genetic material in a procedure involving Claire. It could also be an incomplete or improperly entered record. We need the original clinical documentation.””
Daniel stood.
“Then get it.””
Rachel immediately contacted the clinic's legal department.
By the end of the day, the clinic had confirmed that a transfer procedure had been entered into its system under Claire's name.
The procedure was marked as completed.
However, the embryology records were incomplete.
There was no verified chain of custody showing which embryo, if any, had been transferred.
Daniel read the report twice.
“So Claire might actually have been pregnant?””
“It's possible,” Rachel said.
“But the record doesn't establish that she was. We need independent medical evidence.””
“What about the fake belly?””
“That remains evidence of deliberate deception. Even if a procedure was attempted, it doesn't prove she carried a pregnancy to term.””
Daniel looked sick.
For eight months, he'd believed he'd been mourning an imaginary child.
Now he had to consider another possibility: someone might have used his former fiancée's genetic material in an unauthorized procedure, and Claire might have been involved.
If a pregnancy had resulted, what had happened to the baby?
Rachel arranged an independent review of the clinic's records and asked Vanessa to provide her original consent documents.
Claire, meanwhile, had stopped answering Daniel's calls.
Her attorney eventually agreed to an interview.
Rachel and Daniel met Claire in a conference room two days later.
Claire arrived wearing jeans and a plain white sweater. Without the artificial belly and the elaborate makeup, she looked smaller than I remembered.
She sat opposite Daniel and folded her hands.
“I know you hate me,” she began.
Daniel shook his head.
“That's not what matters now.””
“Then what does?””
“Did you undergo a fertility procedure eight months ago?””
Claire looked at Rachel.
“Am I required to answer that?””
Rachel explained that the question was relevant to the records under review, though Claire could consult her own attorney before responding.
Claire whispered something to her lawyer.
After a brief discussion, she turned back.
“Yes.””
Daniel stared at her.
“You were actually trying to get pregnant?””
“I wanted to be pregnant.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because you were already losing faith in our marriage. I thought if we succeeded, we might have a chance.””
Daniel's expression tightened.
“Did you use Vanessa's embryos?””
Claire began crying.
“I didn't know they were hers.””
“Then whose did you think they were?””
“The clinic told me they had genetic material available under a donor arrangement.””
Rachel interrupted.
“Did you sign donor consent paperwork?””
“I signed what Dr. Harris gave me.””
“Did you review it?””
Claire lowered her eyes.
“No.””
Daniel leaned forward.
“Did you ever receive a positive pregnancy test?””
Claire nodded.
“One.””
The room went silent.
“When?”” Daniel asked.
“About two weeks after the procedure.””
His face drained of color.
“Was it confirmed by a doctor?””
“No.””
“Did you have an ultrasound?””
Claire shook her head.
“Then how do you know you were pregnant?””
“I had a blood test. Dr. Harris told me the hormone level suggested an early pregnancy.””
Rachel asked, “Did you have any follow-up testing?””
Claire hesitated.
“Once.””
“And what happened?””
Claire began to cry harder.
“The hormone level dropped. Dr. Harris said it might have been a chemical pregnancy.””
Daniel stared at her.
“A miscarriage?””
“He said it was possible.””
“Did you tell me?””
“No.””
“Why?””
“Because I was afraid you'd leave me if I couldn't give you a child.””
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“So instead, you pretended to be pregnant for eight months?””
Claire nodded.
“I thought I could fix everything.””
“How?””
“I bought the belly. I took photographs. I told people I was having a normal pregnancy. I kept thinking I'd find a way to make it true.””
Daniel leaned back, visibly shaken.
“And the baby you gave birth to last spring?””
Claire looked confused.
“What?””
Rachel placed the DNA report on the table.
“Lily. The child you gave birth to and placed for adoption.””
Claire stared at the document.
“Lily was real.””
“Yes,” Rachel replied.
“The question is whether the fertility procedure and the events surrounding Lily's birth are connected.””
Claire looked at Daniel.
“I thought Marcus was Lily's father.””
“The DNA test confirms I'm her biological father.””
Claire's face crumpled.
“No.””
Daniel didn't look away.
“You knew there was a possibility.””
“I didn't know.””
“You knew enough to hide her from me.””
Claire lowered her head.
Rachel placed another document on the table.
“This is the clinic's record of a procedure involving Claire and a patient identification number associated with Vanessa Cole. We need to know whether you were told where the genetic material came from.””
Claire stared at the page.
Then she whispered, “Dr. Harris told me it was anonymous donor material.””
“Did he tell you it belonged to Vanessa?””
“No.””
“Did you know Vanessa had once been engaged to Daniel?””
Claire went completely still.
Daniel noticed.
“Claire?””
She looked at him with terrified eyes.
“I knew who Vanessa was.””
“How?””
“Dr. Harris mentioned your previous relationship. He said the clinic had a record that might help us conceive.””
Daniel stood.
“You knew?””
“I didn't know he was using her embryos!””
“But you knew they were connected to her!””
Claire covered her face.
“I thought it was a donor program. I thought the clinic had permission.””
Rachel ended the interview at that point and instructed Claire's attorney to preserve all related communications.
As Daniel and Rachel gathered their papers, Claire called after him.
“Daniel, wait.””
He stopped at the door.
She stood, trembling.
“I know I lied to you. I know I destroyed your trust. But I need you to understand something.””
He turned.
“What?””
Claire swallowed.
“Dr. Harris told me that if the transfer worked, the baby would be genetically related to you because of the way the clinic had stored the material.””
Daniel stared at her.
“That makes no sense.””
“I know. I didn't understand it either.””
“Then why did you believe him?””
“Because he said the records had been reviewed and approved.””
Rachel turned back.
“Claire, do you have that statement in writing?””
Claire nodded.
“It's in an email.””
“Please provide it to your attorney so it can be preserved.””
Claire agreed.
That evening, the clinic sent a formal notice to Rachel.
An internal review had identified discrepancies in several patient files, including Vanessa's, Claire's, and Daniel's.
The director had requested outside investigators examine the possibility of unauthorized access and falsified consent forms.
But the most troubling finding concerned a separate birth record.
A child had been delivered under a temporary patient number on April seventeenth, the same day Lily was born.
The child's biological parentage had never been properly reconciled with the hospital's final records.
Daniel read the notice in stunned silence.
“Another child?””
Rachel nodded.
“Possibly. We need to verify the record.””
“Could that be Grace?””
“We don't know.””
He stared at the date.
Then his phone rang.
It was Vanessa.
Her voice was shaking.
“Daniel, I just received a letter from the adoption agency.””
“What does it say?””
“They've agreed to arrange a new DNA test for Grace.””
He closed his eyes.
“That's good.””
“No, Daniel. You don't understand.””
She began crying.
“The agency says the original records identify a different biological father.””
Daniel went cold.
“Who?””
Vanessa took a breath.
Then she said, “Marcus Reed.””
Daniel couldn't move.
The same man who had slept with Claire.
The same man who had helped conceal Lily.
The same man whose DNA sample had been mislabeled.
And now, according to a separate adoption record, Marcus might be Grace's biological father.
But Vanessa's certainty about Grace's conception had never wavered.
Daniel gripped the phone.
“Vanessa, don't make any decisions until Rachel reviews the records.””
“I won't.””
“And don't contact Marcus.””
“I wasn't going to.””
Daniel ended the call and turned toward Rachel.
“What if he was involved in both adoptions?””
Rachel gathered the files.
“Then we need to find out why.””
She looked at the clock.
“Tomorrow, we're going to ask Dr. Harris to explain every procedure, every signature, and every missing record.””
Daniel nodded.
But neither of us slept well that night.
Because for the first time, the evidence suggested that the lies surrounding Daniel's children might not have been the work of one frightened woman.
Someone else had been manipulating the records.
Someone with access to the clinic.
May you like
Someone who had known about Vanessa, Claire, and Daniel's desperate wish to become a father.
And that person had left a trail leading straight to the hospital where both girls were born.
