Chapter 8 - THE DOCTOR WHO DISAPPEARED
The hospital ran every test they could.
Toxicology couldn’t tell us much six months later.
But my old bloodwork from the morning after the gala still existed.
I had gone to urgent care because I woke up dizzy and vomiting.
At the time, the doctor assumed dehydration.
Now the hospital reviewed the sample.
A sedative had been present.
Midazolam.
A medication commonly used before medical procedures.
I stared at the report.
“They drugged me.”
My mother held my hand.
Julian sat across the room.
I had refused to let him sit beside me.
Detective Hayes stood near the window.
“We’re working on a warrant for the Sterling estate.”
“What about Gordon?”
“He’s asking for a deal.”
“Give him one.”
Julian looked at me.
“Chloe.”
“I want the truth.”
Hayes nodded.
“We do too.”
My doctor entered.
She looked uncomfortable.
“There’s something else.”
My heart jumped.
“The baby?”
“The baby looks healthy.”
I exhaled.
“Thank God.”
“But we ran the noninvasive paternity panel you requested.”
Julian stood.
“And?”
The doctor looked at me.
“You asked us to compare Julian’s DNA.”
“Yes.”
She handed me the folder.
I couldn’t open it.
My hands wouldn’t work.
Julian whispered, “Just tell us.”
She did.
“Julian is not the biological father.”
The room disappeared.
No one spoke.
I heard my mother gasp.
Julian sat down.
Hard.
“No.”
The doctor continued.
“The probability of paternity is effectively zero.”
I stared at my belly.
My baby moved.
A tiny kick.
I began crying.
Not because I loved the child less.
Because someone had taken the truth from me.
“What did they do?”
Hayes lowered his head.
“We’re going to find out.”
Julian looked at me.
“Chloe, I swear I didn’t know.”
“I believe that.”
He looked surprised.
“But you still lied about everything else.”
He lowered his eyes.
The door opened.
An officer entered.
“Detective.”
He handed Hayes a file.
Hayes scanned it.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He looked at me.
“The Sterling fertility specialist was Dr. Marcus Vale.”
Julian frowned.
“I know that name.”
“You should.”
Hayes handed him the page.
“He treated your father.”
Julian read.
Then stopped.
“What?”
I stood.
“What is it?”
His face went white.
“Marcus Vale died.”
“When?”
“January third.”
Two weeks after the gala.
Hayes nodded.
“Car accident.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
Mom whispered, “Another accident.”
Hayes looked grim.
“The car went off an icy bridge.”
Julian stared at the paper.
“My mother arranged the funeral.”
I closed my eyes.
Liam.
Dr. Vale.
Rachel hidden.
Me drugged.
The pattern was becoming impossible to ignore.
Hayes’s phone rang.
He answered.
“Yeah.”
Pause.
“Where?”
Another pause.
“We’re coming.”
He hung up.
“They searched the room above the Sterling garage.”
My stomach tightened.
“And?”
“They found medical equipment.”
“What kind?”
He looked at me.
“Insemination supplies.”
I nearly stopped breathing.
Mom covered her mouth.
Julian looked horrified.
Hayes continued.
“And there was a locked freezer compartment.”
I stared.
“What was inside?”
He hesitated.
Then answered.
“Two preserved biological samples.”
Julian stood.
“Whose?”
Hayes looked directly at him.
“One was labeled with your name.”
My pulse raced.
“And the other?”
May you like
The detective took a breath.
“Liam Sterling.”
