CHAPTER TWO: THE RECORD THAT COULD NOT BE ERASED
Brooke recovered quickly.
“Ryan showed me the documents,” she said.
“I never showed you the transfer report,” Ryan replied.
“You must have mentioned it.”
“I didn’t know there was only one embryo until today.”
The confidence disappeared from Brooke’s face.
Dr. Lawson placed several pages on the counter. She explained that the report Ryan received had not come from the clinic’s medical system. It was a nearly perfect copy created from an exported template.
The real laboratory record remained protected on an offline server.
“The embryo transferred to Elena was created from her egg and Ryan’s sample,” Dr. Lawson said. “The chain of custody is complete. We also compared the embryo’s screening profile with a prenatal test Elena authorized last week. Both babies match the original embryo.”
Ryan gripped the back of a chair.
“So they’re mine?”
“Yes.”
Elena closed her eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks. She had always known the truth, but hearing it aloud finally loosened the fear inside her.
Ryan turned to Brooke. “You told me the clinic confirmed I wasn’t the father.”
Brooke backed toward the door. “That’s what the file said.”
“The false file,” Dr. Lawson answered. “Our cybersecurity team traced its creation to a remote session using Mr. Carter’s emergency portal credentials. The login came from an office registered to Hale Legal Consulting.”
“Anyone could have used that computer,” Brooke said.
Elena sat upright.
“That might have worked if the pregnancy were the only thing you tried to hide.”
Ryan looked at her.
Elena explained that Daniel Price was not her lover. He was helping her trace more than two million dollars missing from Carter Medical Group’s employee health fund. The transfers led to consulting companies controlled by Brooke.
Elena had planned to tell Ryan after confirming the evidence. Brooke discovered the investigation first.
“You made him believe I betrayed him,” Elena said, “because you needed me out of the company before I finished the audit.”
Brooke’s eyes filled with tears, but her anger remained.
“I saved that company for years while you walked in and questioned everything. Ryan trusted me before he met you.”
“You stole from people who trusted us,” Ryan said.
“I borrowed money. I was going to return it.”
“And the pregnancy report?”
Brooke looked at him desperately. “You were miserable with her. I gave you a reason to leave.”
Ryan stepped away from her.
“You used my fear of never becoming a father to punish my wife and endanger my children.”
Two clinic security officers appeared at the doorway. Behind them stood Daniel and a detective from the financial-crimes unit.
As Brooke was led away, she looked back at Ryan.
“You believed me.”
Ryan said nothing.
The words were meant to excuse her, but they became an accusation he could not escape.
When the room was quiet, he approached Elena.
“I am so sorry.”
“You left me alone while I was carrying your children,” she said. “You froze our accounts, called me a liar, and let another woman turn my pregnancy into a trial.”
His voice broke. “Tell me how to make it right.”
“You don’t repair this with one apology. You start by accepting that I may never trust you the way I did before.”
May you like
Ryan lowered his head.
Then he pulled a chair beside the examination table—not touching her, not asking for forgiveness—and listened as Dr. Lawson explained everything about their two daughters.
