Chapter 8 - THE TEST RESULTS SHE STOLE FROM ME
Claire remembered the Sterling Women's Health Center.
White walls.
A quiet waiting room.
The smell of lavender disinfectant.
A physician who smiled too often and asked strangely detailed questions about her marriage.
At the time, she'd been six weeks pregnant.
She didn't yet know she was carrying twins.
But the clinic had later scheduled a follow-up examination.
An appointment she never attended because Ethan threw her out before the date arrived.
Now Lucas was showing her an internal email proving Victoria Sullivan had obtained her medical information.
Claire felt violated all over again.
"How?"
Lucas shook his head.
"That's part of what investigators need to determine."
Ethan stared at the screen.
"My mother had her records?"
"Apparently."
Claire looked down.
For ten years, she'd believed Victoria was simply a cruel mother-in-law who hated her background.
Now she understood something worse.
Victoria hadn't merely wanted her gone.
She'd been collecting information.
Planning.
Preparing.
Claire thought about the night Ethan threw thirty dollars at her.
The rain.
The suitcase.
The way his mother stood silently behind him.
Watching.
She had looked almost satisfied.
The next day, the investigation expanded to the clinic.
Several former employees were contacted.
One agreed to speak.
Dr. Rebecca Lane.
She had worked at the clinic ten years earlier.
When she saw Claire's name, her expression changed.
"I remember your case."
Claire leaned forward.
"Why?"
Dr. Lane hesitated.
"Because there was pressure from the Sullivan family."
Ethan's face darkened.
"What kind of pressure?"
"Requests for information that should have remained confidential."
Claire swallowed.
"Did anyone give them my records?"
Dr. Lane looked down.
"I wasn't personally involved, but I reported concerns."
Lucas asked:
"Do you still have documentation?"
She nodded.
"Copies of my report."
The records showed that an administrator had accessed Claire's information without documented authorization.
There were also notes concerning a proposed private consultation requested by Victoria.
Claire stared.
"What consultation?"
Dr. Lane looked uncomfortable.
"An appointment to discuss options concerning the pregnancy."
Claire's stomach tightened.
"I never requested that."
"I understand."
Ethan looked toward Claire.
Shame filled his expression.
He had been so easily manipulated.
So certain that his family knew best.
Now he saw how much control they'd attempted to exert over Claire.
Dr. Lane continued.
"There's something else."
Everyone looked toward her.
She opened another file.
A referral note.
Dated the week after the divorce.
Claire's name appeared.
But beside it was a different patient number.
Lucas frowned.
"What's this?"
Dr. Lane looked troubled.
"It appears someone attempted to create a duplicate patient record."
Claire stared.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
Then Dr. Lane pointed toward the associated name.
A second woman.
Someone whose medical records had been connected to Claire's.
Ethan leaned closer.
"Cora Sterling?"
His face drained of color.
Dr. Lane nodded.
"Cora worked in the clinic's administrative office at the time."
Claire stopped breathing.
Ethan stared.
His current fiancée.
The woman who claimed she knew nothing.
Had been working inside the clinic where Claire's pregnancy records were accessed.
Then Lucas opened the final attachment.
A photograph from a staff event.
Cora stood beside Victoria Sullivan.
Both smiling.
Both holding champagne glasses.
The date was ten years earlier.
Claire looked up slowly.
May you like
Ethan's voice was barely audible.
"Cora has known my mother since before Claire and I divorced."
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