Chapter 11 - THE TWO PREGNANCIES MARGARET PLANNED
For the first time, Emma understood the full scale of Margaret’s obsession.
Vanessa’s pregnancy was not an affair consequence.
It was another experiment.
Another bloodline.
Another attempt at control.
Emma and Dominic drove back to Chicago immediately.
Vanessa met them at a private clinic.
Gabriel was already there.
He looked destroyed.
“I didn’t know,” he said.
Vanessa sat with both hands around her stomach.
“I thought the baby was yours.”
Gabriel nodded.
“So did I.”
Emma asked, “What happened?”
Vanessa explained.
Months earlier, Margaret had recommended a fertility specialist because Vanessa claimed irregular cycles.
The clinic offered “hormonal support.”
Vanessa had received injections.
Monitoring.
One procedure under sedation.
“I thought they were doing a uterine biopsy.”
Emma felt sick.
“They inseminated you.”
Vanessa nodded.
“Without consent.”
Dominic’s face turned murderous.
“Whose sperm?”
“No one will tell me.”
Gabriel slammed his hand against the wall.
“I’m going to kill her.”
Dominic looked at him.
“No.”
Gabriel turned.
“No?”
“We’re done letting anger create more crimes.”
Gabriel stared.
Then slowly nodded.
Dominic had surprised himself.
Old Dominic would have wanted violence.
Now all he could think about was what violence had already cost everyone.
Emma looked at Vanessa.
“Did Margaret ever mention Bellini?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“Only once.”
“When?”
“When she told me the child would secure the family.”
Dominic went still.
“What exactly did she say?”
Vanessa thought.
“She said, ‘One heir is hope. Two heirs are insurance.’”
Emma’s skin prickled.
Two heirs.
Emma’s baby.
Vanessa’s baby.
Margaret had planned both.
But why two?
Dominic called the genetic counselor.
They arranged emergency prenatal paternity screening for Vanessa.
Results came the next day.
The biological father was not Gabriel.
Not Dominic.
The lab matched the sample against available Moretti reference DNA.
The result stunned everyone.
The child’s biological father was Anthony Vale.
Dominic’s biological father.
Vanessa went white.
“He’s seventy-one.”
Emma felt sick.
Margaret had used stored genetic material.
Anthony admitted he had donated samples decades earlier during fertility testing.
He never knew they remained preserved.
Margaret had created Vanessa’s pregnancy using Dominic’s biological father.
Why?
Because Vanessa was Catherine Reed’s daughter.
Emma’s half-sister.
Margaret was manufacturing a child with carefully selected lineage.
A genetic bridge.
Legal leverage.
A human document.
Emma looked at Vanessa.
Neither woman spoke.
Then Vanessa reached for her hand.
Emma let her.
They were sisters.
Both manipulated before birth.
Both used after.
Both pregnant because Margaret wanted children who could hold property claims.
Dominic stood near the window.
Gabriel asked, “What happens to the trust?”
Dominic turned.
“We destroy it.”
“You can’t destroy four hundred million dollars.”
“Watch me.”
His attorney prepared documents transferring the disputed assets into an independent charitable trust pending litigation.
Margaret would lose control.
So would Dominic.
Emma stared.
“You’re giving it away?”
“It was never mine.”
“Some of it might legally be.”
“Then I don’t want it.”
He looked at her.
“I’ve spent my life inheriting things I never earned.”
Emma felt something shift inside her.
Not forgiveness.
Respect.
Small.
Fragile.
But real.
The next morning, federal investigators arrived at Margaret’s hospital room.
Dominic had turned over Gabriel’s files.
Dr. Porter’s records.
Anthony’s testimony.
Vanessa’s medical evidence.
Margaret sat upright in bed when they entered.
She looked at Dominic.
“You did this.”
“Yes.”
“For her?”
Dominic shook his head.
“For everyone.”
Margaret smiled sadly.
“You think Emma will take you back?”
“No.”
That answer made Margaret’s expression change.
He continued.
“This isn’t a trade.”
The agents informed Margaret she was under investigation for conspiracy, medical battery, fraud, falsification of records, and unlawful reproductive procedures.
Margaret listened calmly.
Then looked at Emma.
“You’re still carrying the child.”
Emma instinctively covered her stomach.
Margaret smiled.
“That means I still win.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“What does that mean?”
Margaret leaned back.
“The trust is not the important inheritance.”
Everyone went still.
She looked directly at Emma.
“The baby already owns something far more valuable.”
Emma’s throat tightened.
“What?”
May you like
Margaret smiled.
“The controlling shares of Moretti Holdings.”
