Julian pulled his phone from his pocket, his hands trembling so hard he nearly dropped it. He tapped the screen and thrust it inches from Chloe\u2019s face.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t do anything,\u201d Julian hissed. \u201cBut eight months ago, I hired a private investigator because I found a secondary charges statement on our joint credit card for a private fertility clinic in downtown Chicago\u2014a clinic we had never stepped foot in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chloe fell to her knees right there on the linoleum floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought you were having an affair with a stranger,\u201d Julian wept, tears finally spilling down his flushed face. \u201cI thought you were lying about our IVF progress. But three weeks ago, the investigator gave me the clinic\u2019s internal access logs. You didn\u2019t just visit that clinic, Chloe. You met with a head lab technician four times off the clock.\u201d<\/p>\n
I clutched the baby tighter to my chest, my heart hammering so hard against my ribs I thought it would crack. \u201cJulian\u2026 what are you saying? Whose egg was it? Whose sperm was it?!\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian looked down at his wife, his expression hardening into pure, unadulterated hatred.<\/p>\n
\u201cTell her, Chloe,\u201d Julian whispered cleanly. \u201cTell my twin sister why our baby has her husband\u2019s genetic mark.\u201d<\/p>\n
The silence in the hospital room was so thick you could hear the rain tapping against the double-paned glass.<\/p>\n
Chloe stayed on her knees, her head bowed, her body shaking with silent, wracking sobs. She didn\u2019t deny it. She couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was desperate,\u201d Chloe whimpered, looking up at Julian with bloodshot, hollow eyes. \u201cJulian, please\u2026 listen to me\u2026 we had six failed cycles! Six! The doctor told us my eggs were no longer viable, and your sperm count was too low to create a healthy blastocyst. They told us we would never have a biological child together!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you lied to me?!\u201d Julian shouted, stepping over her. \u201cYou told me the seventh cycle produced a grade-A embryo! You told me it was ours<\/i>!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t lose you!\u201d Chloe shrieked, clutching at the hem of his jeans. \u201cYou wanted a baby so badly! Your sister offered to carry for us, and I knew that if this last cycle failed, you would finally give up! You would look at me like a failure! I couldn\u2019t handle the thought of you leaving me!\u201d<\/p>\n
I sat up in the hospital bed, the blanket pulled to my waist, my mind spinning into a terrifying vortex. \u201cChloe\u2026 answer me right now. Where did the genetic material come from?\u201d<\/p>\n
Chloe turned her face toward me, her eyes filled with a desperate, pathetic plea for understanding.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo years ago,\u201d Chloe sobbed, \u201cwhen you and David were doing your own routine fertility screenings before having your son, Leo\u2026 David had extra genetic samples stored at the downtown cryo-bank. Remember? He signed a storage agreement when you guys were considering freezing embryos for a second child.\u201d<\/p>\n
A cold wave of absolute horror washed over my entire body.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo\u2026\u201d I breathed. \u201cNo, no, no\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew the lab tech at the clinic,\u201d Chloe confessed, the words pouring out of her like a dam bursting. \u201cI paid him fifteen thousand dollars under the table. He retrieved David\u2019s stored sample\u2026 and he used a donor egg from a private agency that matched my physical traits. He created the embryo using David\u2019s genetic material\u2026 and we implanted it into you during the surrogate transfer.\u201d<\/p>\n
I let out a ragged, strangled scream.<\/p>\n
My own husband\u2019s genetic material. A donor egg. Implanted inside me<\/i>.<\/p>\n
I hadn\u2019t carried my brother\u2019s child. I hadn\u2019t carried my niece.<\/p>\n
I had just given birth to my own husband\u2019s biological daughter\u2014conceived through a stolen genetic sample, authorized by my sister-in-law, and carried in secret inside my own womb for nine months.<\/p>\n
Julian looked like he was going to vomit. He backed out of the room, hitting the doorframe, staring at Chloe as if she were a demonic entity.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou stole my sister\u2019s body,\u201d Julian whispered, his voice trembling with sheer disgust. \u201cYou used her to carry a baby that has none of my blood\u2026 just so you could play house and pretend you fixed our marriage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJulian! It\u2019s still our baby!\u201d Chloe pleaded, reaching out wildly. \u201cWe raised the money! We paid for the prenatal care! She\u2019s legally ours through the surrogacy contract!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat contract was built on fraud, grand larceny, and medical assault!\u201d Julian roared.<\/p>\n
He turned toward the doctor, who was already on her phone frantically calling hospital security and the legal risk management department.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeep that woman away from my sister,\u201d Julian commanded, his voice cold and final. \u201cAnd keep her away from that baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julian turned around and walked out of the room, his heavy footsteps echoing down the corridor.<\/p>\n
Chloe scrambled off the floor, trying to run after him, but the two nurses immediately blocked her path. \u201cMa\u2019am, you need to step back. Police and hospital security are on their way.\u201d<\/p>\n
I sat alone in the center of the hospital bed, holding the sleeping infant in my arms.<\/p>\n
She opened her tiny, dark eyes, looking up at me innocently, completely unaware that her very existence was the result of a monstrous crime. I looked down at her star-shaped birthmark, the exact twin of the mark on my husband\u2019s back.<\/p>\n
And that was when the final, terrifying realization hit me.<\/p>\n
David.<\/i><\/p>\n
Did my husband know? Had he been in on it? Or was he as much a victim of Chloe\u2019s twisted scheme as the rest of us?<\/p>\n
I grabbed my phone from the bedside table with a trembling hand and dialed David\u2019s number.<\/p>\n
He picked up on the second ring. \u201cHey, honey! How are you feeling? Did the delivery go okay? Is Julian holding his new baby girl? I\u2019m just pulling into the hospital parking garage right now!\u201d<\/p>\n
I took a deep, shuddering breath, staring at the baby in my lap.<\/p>\n
\u201cDavid,\u201d I whispered, tears pouring down my cheeks. \u201cDon\u2019t go to the nursery. Come straight to Room 412. And bring an attorney.\u201d<\/p>\n
The confrontation in Room 412 twenty minutes later was something out of a nightmare.<\/p>\n