CHAPTER TWO: THE FILE BENEATH THE FILE
Victoria recovered first.
“James must have told me.”
“I didn’t know,” he said. “Emily handled the transfer appointment because I was out of town.”
Dr. Park opened the folder. Inside were audit logs, laboratory photographs, and the real transfer record.
She explained that Victoria’s report used an authentic clinic template but had never been issued by the laboratory. Its digital signature belonged to a technician who had retired two years earlier.
The original record had remained on an offline server.
“One embryo was transferred,” Dr. Park said. “It divided several days later, resulting in identical twins. Its genetic screening profile matches both Emily and James.”
James gripped a chair. “So they’re mine.”
“Yes.”
Emily closed her eyes. She had known the truth, but hearing it aloud released something trapped inside her chest.
Victoria shook her head. “An old server can be altered.”
“The audit was conducted by two independent firms,” Dr. Park replied. “And there is more.”
She displayed a security record showing that someone had accessed James’s patient portal using an emergency authorization assigned to Warren Family Legal. The login originated from Victoria’s office.
James stared at his sister. “You created the report?”
“No. Someone in my office may have—”
“Using your private authentication key,” said a man from the doorway.
Thomas Reed, the Warren company’s independent auditor, entered with a detective and the clinic’s compliance director.
Victoria went pale.
Emily explained what James did not know. Two months earlier, she had found millions leaving the trust for consulting companies that existed only on paper. Several payments carried Victoria’s approval.
Victoria discovered the inquiry and needed Emily removed before the annual trust review.
If James denied paternity, the twins would lose their future claim, leaving Victoria in control.
“You turned my pregnancy into evidence against me,” Emily said. “You knew James’s greatest fear was that the treatment had failed because of him.”
Victoria’s eyes filled with angry tears. “I protected this family while you treated it like an accounting exercise.”
“You stole from it,” James said.
“I moved money to keep the company stable.”
Thomas placed another folder on the counter. “The money funded properties and investment accounts controlled by you.”
Victoria looked at her brother. “You cannot believe them after everything I’ve done for you.”
James’s voice was quiet. “I believed you when I should have believed my wife.”
The detective asked Victoria to step into the hall. She resisted until the compliance director mentioned recorded calls and forged authorizations.
As she was escorted away, Victoria looked back at Emily.
“You think those babies fixed your marriage?”
Emily rested both hands over her stomach.
“No,” she said. “They exposed what was already broken.”
When the door closed, James approached her.
“I’m sorry.”
Emily looked at him through tears. “You canceled my insurance access. You froze our joint account. You let your sister discuss my children as if they were stolen property.”
“I was afraid.”
“So was I. The difference is that I was alone.”
James lowered his head.
May you like
Dr. Park printed the ultrasound image and placed it beside Emily. Two tiny profiles faced each other in the grainy photograph.
James did not ask for forgiveness. He pulled a chair to the far side of the room and listened while the doctor explained the twins’ health.
