Chapter 6 - THE SECRET HIDDEN IN MY MEDICAL RECORDS
Elena Walsh had betrayed me.
But she might also have died trying to warn me.
Her letter explained that Sophia had been asking questions about my fertility treatments for months.
At first, Elena thought it was gossip.
Then Sophia began asking about embryos.
Storage.
Dates.
Genetic testing.
I felt sick.
“What does she mean?”
Caroline asked.
I didn’t know.
The hospital contacted my fertility clinic.
Records were reviewed.
Then my reproductive endocrinologist, Dr. Samuel Pierce, arrived personally.
His face told me something was wrong.
“Claire.”
I gripped the blanket.
“Tell me.”
He sat down.
“Your pregnancy appears natural based on the timing you described.”
I nodded.
“But?”
He hesitated.
“Three years ago, during your first treatment cycle, two embryos were created and frozen.”
“I remember.”
Vincent and I had eventually decided not to proceed with transfer because my body wasn’t responding well.
The embryos remained stored.
Dr. Pierce continued.
“One of those embryos is missing.”
I stopped breathing.
“What?”
Caroline stood.
“How does an embryo go missing?”
“We’re investigating.”
My hands began shaking.
“Since when?”
“Approximately eighteen months ago.”
My stomach turned.
The same period Sophia returned to Chicago.
“Who accessed it?”
Dr. Pierce looked devastated.
“Someone used authorization credentials associated with your account.”
I stared.
“My authorization?”
“Digitally, yes.”
“I never signed anything.”
“I know.”
Arthur looked toward the detective.
“Forgery?”
“Possibly.”
Dr. Pierce continued.
“We have one more concern.”
I almost laughed.
How could there possibly be more?
“The second embryo remains in storage.”
I swallowed.
“And the missing one?”
“We don’t know whether it was destroyed, transferred, or moved elsewhere.”
The room went silent.
Then Detective Bennett opened Sophia’s seized phone.
There were messages to a private fertility facility in Switzerland.
Payments.
Appointments.
Medical questions.
And one photograph.
Sophia.
Standing inside a clinic.
Her hand resting over her stomach.
Date:
Eight months earlier.
My chest tightened.
“She was pregnant?”
Bennett nodded.
“Apparently.”
“What happened?”
The detective scrolled.
Then showed me another record.
Birth.
Female infant.
Seven weeks ago.
Mother:
Sofia Bellini.
Father:
Not listed.
My hands began trembling.
Then Dr. Pierce whispered the possibility none of us wanted to say.
“If your embryo was transferred…”
I covered my mouth.
Caroline stared.
“That baby could be Claire’s biological child.”
The room spun.
Vincent’s mistress had given birth to a baby that might genetically belong to me and my husband.
Then Arthur’s phone rang.
He answered.
His face turned white.
“What?”
I asked.
He looked directly at me.
“Sophia’s baby is missing.”
My heart stopped.
“Missing?”
“The nanny was found unconscious.”
I could barely breathe.
May you like
Then Arthur added:
“Victor Bellini took the child.”
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