CHAPTER 19 — THE CHILD EMILY NEVER CARRIED
No one spoke for several seconds.
Emily stood before the security monitor, watching Vanessa repeat the same silent sentence.
She is Emily’s daughter.
Emily turned to Charles.
“Explain.”
Charles lowered his eyes.
“I cannot.”
“You mean you will not.”
“I mean I do not know what Helena has done.”
Emily pointed at the screen.
“Vanessa said the child was mine.”
“I saw it.”
“How could I have a daughter I never carried?”
Charles looked toward Claire.
Claire stepped back.
“No.”
Emily noticed.
“What do you know?”
Claire’s hands began to tremble.
“I signed medical transfer documents eight years ago.”
“For what?”
“Your emergency surgery.”
Emily remembered the accident.
She had awakened after two days with stitches across her abdomen.
Charles told her the injuries had been minor.
Claire continued.
“You suffered internal damage. The doctors were concerned about your fertility.”
“And?”
“Charles authorized the preservation of reproductive tissue.”
Emily looked at her father.
“You took my eggs without telling me?”
“I was told you might never have another chance.”
“That decision belonged to me.”
“I know.”
“No, you do not.”
Charles moved toward her, but Grant stepped between them.
Claire continued.
“Three embryos were later created under the Bennett continuity program.”
Preston watched Emily carefully.
“The children were never meant to be born together.”
Emily looked at him.
“You knew?”
“I knew Helena was searching for three embryo files. I did not know the identities of the mothers.”
Claire pointed toward the sleeping infants.
“One embryo used Lydia’s genetic material. One used Vanessa’s. One used Emily’s.”
Emily’s eyes moved to the baby she had delivered.
“Which one did I carry?”
Claire’s voice broke.
“I believed you were carrying your own biological child.”
“But you no longer believe that.”
“The clinic report listed Lydia as the biological mother of NB-02. If that report is real, then your newborn may be NB-03.”
“And NB-03 belongs to Vanessa?”
“We need testing.”
Emily stared at her newborn.
The child opened one small hand and wrapped her fingers around Emily’s thumb.
Whatever the laboratory claimed, Emily had carried this baby.
She had felt every movement.
She had heard the heartbeat in the middle of the night.
No report could erase that.
Grant’s phone rang.
His forensic team had entered the original birth data from all three wristbands.
He listened for less than a minute.
Then he looked at Emily.
“The results are preliminary.”
“Tell me.”
“The infant labeled NB-01 is biologically connected to Lydia.”
Emily looked at the child Nathan had carried into the clinic.
“NB-02?”
“The child from the hidden chamber contains Emily’s maternal DNA.”
The room became painfully still.
Emily stepped toward the infant.
“My daughter?”
Grant nodded.
“According to the first analysis.”
Emily touched the baby’s cheek.
The child was several weeks old.
Older than the baby Emily had just delivered.
Vanessa must have carried her.
Emily looked back at Grant.
“And my newborn?”
Grant hesitated.
“The newborn contains Bennett family DNA.”
“Maternal DNA?”
“Vanessa’s.”
Emily’s knees weakened.
One of the men with Nathan’s face caught her arm.
She pulled away immediately.
The baby she had carried was biologically Vanessa’s.
The older child Vanessa had carried was biologically Emily’s.
Charles had exchanged their pregnancies before either woman knew.
Emily lifted her biological daughter carefully.
The infant stirred but did not wake.
“Who is the father?”
Grant looked at the two identical men.
“The standard test cannot distinguish between Nathan and Nicholas.”
Preston smiled without humor.
“That is why Helena created the problem.”
Emily turned toward Charles.
“You allowed two women to carry each other’s children.”
“I authorized embryo protection. I did not authorize implantation.”
“Who did?”
Charles looked toward the board seal painted above the nursery door.
“Only the chairwoman had that authority.”
“Helena.”
A phone rang inside the empty crib.
Grant lifted it.
Vanessa’s name appeared on the screen.
Emily answered.
“Where are you?”
Vanessa’s breathing was uneven.
“I am sorry.”
“You carried my child.”
“I was told the embryo was mine.”
“Where is Helena?”
“She knows you found the records.”
A door slammed behind Vanessa.
She lowered her voice.
“Do not let the board recognize any of the children.”
“Why?”
“Because the trust does not give the heir money.”
Emily looked at Preston.
“What does it give them?”
Vanessa answered before he could.
“Control over every person carrying Bennett genetic material.”
The line filled with static.
Then Vanessa whispered one final warning.
May you like
“Helena is not choosing an heir.”
“She is choosing a master.”
