Chapter 7: The Man Who Came for My Children
"Those twins you're raising aren't the only children connected to our marriage.""
Daniel's words echoed through my phone.
For a moment, I couldn't speak.
Rachel reached across the table and touched my arm.
"Claire?""
I held up one finger.
"Melissa, listen carefully. Do not open that door. Do not let Daniel inside, no matter what he says.""
"He's demanding to see the children.""
"He has no right to enter your house.""
Daniel's voice suddenly came closer.
"Tell her I have every right!""
I heard something hit the front door.
Melissa gasped.
"He's pounding on it.""
"Call the police.""
"I already have.""
"Good. Stay with the children.""
I ended the call.
Rachel looked terrified.
"Should we go?""
"Yes. But I'm not going home alone.""
I called my attorney, Rebecca Lawson, who had handled the final stages of my divorce.
She answered on the second ring.
"Claire? Is everything all right?""
"No. I need you to listen carefully.""
I explained the forged consent form, the missing embryo, Daniel's threats, and the fabricated DNA report.
Rebecca became increasingly quiet.
When I finished, she said something I hadn't expected.
"Claire, do you still have your original divorce settlement?""
"Yes.""
"Don't sign anything Daniel gives you. Don't agree to any DNA testing through a laboratory he chooses. And don't speak to him without a witness.""
"Can he actually take my children?""
"Not simply because he makes a demand. But we need to establish exactly what he's alleging.""
I glanced at Rachel.
"He's claiming they're connected to our marriage.""
Rebecca paused.
"That's impossible if they were conceived after the divorce.""
"That's what I've told him.""
"Then we need proof. Your fertility clinic records, your donor conception paperwork, and the original embryo records. All of them.""
I felt my shoulders relax slightly.
"Can you meet me today?""
"Send me the address. I'll be there.""
Twenty minutes later, Rachel and I arrived at my house.
A police cruiser was parked outside.
Melissa stood on the porch with Emma and Noah behind her.
Daniel was near his car, speaking angrily to an officer.
The moment he saw me, he walked toward us.
"Finally.""
One officer stepped between us.
"Sir, stay where you are.""
Daniel ignored him.
"Claire, you need to stop this.""
I walked past the officer but kept several feet between us.
"What exactly am I supposed to stop?""
"Going around telling people I'm some kind of criminal.""
I looked at the officer.
"He's been threatening to take my children.""
Daniel laughed.
"I have evidence that those children may be connected to my biological family.""
I stared at him.
"They were conceived after our divorce.""
"That's what you claim.""
I almost laughed.
"You were married to me for seven years. You know exactly what I went through. You know how many treatments we tried. And now you're standing here pretending you don't know when my children were conceived?""
He lowered his voice.
"You're missing the point.""
"Then explain it.""
He looked toward the house.
"Those children may have a genetic connection to an embryo that belonged to us.""
I stepped closer.
"An embryo you tried to transfer without my consent.""
His expression hardened.
"Don't say things you can't prove.""
I held up my phone.
"Your forged paperwork says otherwise.""
For the first time, he looked genuinely alarmed.
"Where did you get that?""
"From the family you deceived.""
He glanced at the officer.
"This is a private matter.""
The officer shook his head.
"Sir, you need to stop contacting her if she's asking you to leave.""
Daniel looked at me.
"You think you've won something?""
"No. I think you've finally been caught.""
He leaned forward.
"Listen to me, Claire. I know things about those twins that you don't.""
I felt a chill.
"What things?""
He smiled.
It wasn't his old confident smile.
It was something colder.
"Ask your fertility clinic who paid for the donor program.""
Then he turned and walked toward his car.
I watched him drive away.
Melissa came down the steps.
"Claire, what did he mean?""
I shook my head.
"I don't know.""
She looked toward the children.
"He's scaring them.""
I turned.
Emma was holding Noah's hand.
"Mummy?""
I knelt.
"Yes, sweetheart?""
"Is that man coming back?""
I brushed a curl away from her face.
"No one is going to take you away from me.""
Noah looked serious.
"Promise?""
I kissed his forehead.
"Promise.""
But inside, I was frightened.
Because Daniel had just mentioned something I had never thought to question.
Who paid for my donor conception?
That afternoon, Rebecca arrived with a briefcase.
We sat around the dining table while the children watched cartoons upstairs.
She listened to everything, then examined the documents Rachel had brought.
"This is serious," she said.
"Can he use this to challenge my children's parentage?""
"Not without evidence. And a forged report is not evidence.""
She pointed to the document.
"Look at this signature.""
"I know. It's not mine.""
Rebecca examined it.
"Whoever created this copied your name from another document. We need a handwriting expert.""
Then she opened my divorce settlement.
Her expression changed.
"Claire, I found something.""
"What?""
She turned the final page toward me.
There was a paragraph I vaguely remembered.
A clause concerning reproductive materials, medical records, and future claims.
Rebecca read it aloud.
"Both parties acknowledge that no embryos remain in storage and that neither party retains any claim to reproductive material created during the marriage.""
I stared.
"Daniel signed that?""
"Yes.""
"Then why would he forge my consent afterward?""
Rebecca leaned back.
"Because if the embryo was transferred without your permission, he needed a way to make it appear that you had already relinquished your rights.""
I looked at her.
"Can we prove it?""
"We can try.""
She reached into her briefcase.
"I've also requested your original fertility records.""
Her phone rang.
She answered, listened, then slowly sat forward.
"What?""
I watched her expression.
"Are you certain?""
Another pause.
"Please send that immediately.""
She ended the call.
"What happened?"" I asked.
Rebecca looked at me.
"The clinic has located the original payment records.""
My heart began pounding.
"What do they show?""
She hesitated.
"Daniel didn't pay for the disputed transfer.""
"Then who did?""
Rebecca turned her laptop toward me.
A name appeared on the screen.
*WILLIAM WHITMORE.*
Daniel's father.
I stared at it.
His father had died eighteen months earlier.
"Why would William pay for the embryo transfer?""
Rebecca scrolled down.
There was another entry.
A bank transfer.
Then a handwritten note.
*Keep this arrangement within the family. Daniel must not be listed as the financial sponsor.*
I read it twice.
"Who wrote that?""
Rebecca zoomed in.
The handwriting was different from Daniel's.
Then she looked at me.
"Claire, William Whitmore wasn't just paying for the procedure.""
She opened another file.
"He was paying for something else.""
A legal trust.
Created four years ago.
And its beneficiary was not Daniel.
May you like
It was a child.
A child named Lily Collins.
