Chapter 8 - The Clinic
The clinic administrator called me back within an hour.
At first, she sounded calm.
Then I gave her the donor numbers.
Her voice changed.
“Mrs. Hollis, are you currently pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“Please hold.”
I sat at my kitchen table with Daniel across from me and Lauren beside him.
Five minutes passed.
Then eight.
Finally, a man came on the line.
“This is Dr. Patel.”
He was the medical director.
I had met him once.
“Mrs. Hollis, I need to ask whether your husband is with you.”
“No.”
“Would you be comfortable coming into the clinic?”
“No. I’d be comfortable getting an answer.”
Silence.
“Your consent paperwork references donor 4472.”
“Yes.”
“The sample used in your cycle was donor 3186.”
Daniel.
My free hand closed into a fist.
“How?”
“We are reviewing that.”
“That means you don’t know?”
“It means I don’t want to speculate.”
“I’m twenty-one weeks pregnant with sperm I did not consent to use.”
Daniel looked away.
Dr. Patel said, “I understand how serious this is.”
“No. You understand how serious this is for your clinic.”
“Mrs. Hollis—”
“Did Ethan change the donor?”
“Not legally on his own.”
My heart pounded.
“What does that mean?”
“Any donor substitution requires authorization from both intended parents.”
“I didn’t authorize it.”
“I understand.”
“Then someone forged my consent.”
Nobody in the room moved.
Dr. Patel took a slow breath.
“We need to conduct an internal investigation.”
“Who handled my file?”
“I can’t answer that until—”
“Yes, you can.”
Another pause.
Then he gave me a name.
“Rebecca Shaw.”
Lauren gasped.
I turned toward her.
“What?”
Her face went white.
“You know her?”
Lauren nodded slowly.
“She’s Mom’s friend.”
My entire body went cold.
Daniel sat forward.
“Margaret?”
Lauren pressed both hands over her mouth.
“Rebecca’s been in Mom’s book club for years.”
I spoke into the phone.
“Is Rebecca Shaw still employed there?”
Dr. Patel hesitated.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“She resigned seven months ago.”
“When was my transfer?”
“Six months ago.”
Of course.
Of course it was.
I ended the call.
Lauren stood.
“No. Mom couldn’t have known.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You sure?”
“She hates you.”
“Exactly.”
I stared at both of them.
Something didn’t fit.
Margaret hated Daniel.
She had paid him to leave.
She had reacted with disgust when she thought I was having Ethan’s third daughter.
Why would she help put Daniel’s DNA into my child?
Unless she hadn’t.
Unless Ethan and Rebecca had done it.
I called Ethan.
He answered immediately.
“Emily?”
“Did Rebecca Shaw help you switch donor samples?”
Silence.
That was enough.
“Answer me.”
“Yes.”
Lauren whispered, “Oh my God.”
I stood.
“You forged my consent?”
“No. Rebecca changed the selection after you signed.”
“You understand that sentence is worse, right?”
“Emily, listen.”
“No, you listen. I consented to one donor. You used another man.”
“He’s not some random man.”
“That is not the point!”
My voice cracked.
Daniel got up and walked toward the window.
Ethan said, “I thought once you were pregnant, once you loved the baby—”
I hung up.
I couldn’t hear another word.
Lauren started crying.
“I’m sorry.”
I looked at her.
“For what?”
“For my family.”
I almost told her this wasn’t hers to apologize for.
Then the doorbell rang.
Lauren looked through the peephole.
“It’s Dad.”
Richard walked in holding a legal envelope.
His face was gray.
“What happened?” I asked.
He looked at Daniel first.
Then me.
“Margaret filed something in probate court this morning.”
Lauren frowned.
“Probate?”
Richard handed me the papers.
They weren’t about the baby.
They were about him.
Margaret was trying to declare Richard mentally incompetent.
And if she succeeded, she would gain control over every major Hollis family asset.
May you like
Including the trust Richard had quietly amended three months earlier.
A trust that now included Daniel.
