Chapter 8 - EVELYN’S SECRET
Luca stared at his wife.
I stared at her too.
Evelyn didn’t move.
Paula was still on speaker.
“Is that true?” Luca asked.
Evelyn’s face had gone completely blank.
“Hang up.”
“No.”
“Luca.”
“Did you carry our embryo?”
Evelyn’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
I stood so quickly my chair hit the floor.
“No.”
“Nia—”
“Do not say my name.”
“It wasn’t what you think.”
“You carried a child created from my egg?”
“For eleven weeks.”
The room spun.
Eleven weeks.
I grabbed the edge of the table.
“What happened?”
“I miscarried.”
Her voice broke.
For a moment, even my anger stopped.
Loss was loss.
I knew that pain.
But then another thought hit.
“You knew.”
Evelyn shook her head violently.
“Not at first.”
“What do you mean not at first?”
“Celeste told me the embryo came from an anonymous donor.”
Luca looked murderous.
“And you agreed to carry my child?”
“She said you wanted a family.”
“We weren’t married.”
“I know.”
“We weren’t even together.”
“I know!”
Evelyn finally shouted.
The polished mask shattered.
“I was stupid, okay? I loved you. Your mother told me your marriage was over and that you wanted children more than anything. I thought if I could give you one…”
She stopped.
Her face crumpled.
“I thought you might love me.”
Silence.
It was pathetic.
It was cruel.
It was human.
And I hated her anyway.
Paula spoke through the phone.
“Evelyn did not know the egg belonged to Nia.”
I looked at the phone.
“And you did?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you help?”
Paula cried quietly.
“Money.”
Of course.
“How much?”
“One hundred thousand dollars.”
I laughed.
“My children. My marriage. My body. Everybody had a price.”
“Nia, I’m sorry.”
“Save it.”
Luca picked up the phone.
“You said one embryo was transferred to Evelyn. What happened to the other?”
Paula went silent.
“Paula?”
“I don’t know.”
“You were the administrator.”
“Your mother handled that one herself.”
“Where are the records?”
“She took them.”
“Did the embryo result in a birth?”
“I believe so.”
Evelyn looked confused.
“The paperwork said live birth.”
Paula sighed.
“That wasn’t Evelyn’s pregnancy.”
I felt ice move through me.
“So there was another woman.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“I never knew her real name.”
Luca paced away.
“What did she look like?”
“I only saw her once. White woman. Early thirties. Brown hair.”
That could be half of Chicago.
“Anything else?”
“She had a Southern accent.”
I frowned.
Then Paula said, “There is one thing.”
“What?”
“She wore a nurse’s badge.”
Luca turned.
“From where?”
“St. Catherine’s Medical Center.”
I knew that hospital.
I had delivered the twins there.
My heart began pounding.
“What was her name?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Try.”
A long silence.
Then Paula whispered, “Rebecca. I think her first name was Rebecca.”
The room went dead.
I gripped the chair.
No.
Impossible.
Luca noticed my face.
“Nia?”
I could barely speak.
“I know a Rebecca.”
“Who?”
May you like
I looked at him.
“She was my labor and delivery nurse.”
