Chapter 7: The Father Nobody Was Supposed to Find
For several seconds, I couldn't speak.
I looked at Richard, then at Elena, then down at Lily.
My daughter was crying quietly against my wife's shoulder.
“What did you just say?”” I asked.
Richard wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead.
“You heard me.””
“Are you telling me Lily isn't my biological daughter?””
“I'm telling you that biology is considerably more complicated than you understand.””
I stepped toward him.
“Then explain it.””
Richard glanced at Vanessa.
She was holding the DNA reports against her chest, her fingers trembling.
“Your wife had an affair,” he said.
Elena went completely still.
“That isn't true.””
Richard opened his briefcase and removed another photograph.
It showed Elena standing outside a hotel, holding hands with a man I had never seen before.
The date printed on the back was eight months before Lily's birth.
I stared at it.
“Who is he?””
Elena shook her head.
“Daniel, I can explain.””
“Who is he?””
“My brother.””
I blinked.
“What?””
Elena looked toward Richard.
“My mother's first husband had a son. His name was Thomas. He died before you and I met.””
Richard laughed.
“Thomas Mercer never existed.””
Elena's face crumpled.
“He was my half-brother. Mother gave him up when he was an infant. I found him through a genealogy service years later.””
I looked at the photograph again.
“Then why were you holding his hand?””
“Because he was dying. He had a rare genetic condition, and he needed a bone marrow donor. I was trying to help him.””
Richard shook his head.
“Convenient story.””
Elena turned toward him.
“You know perfectly well who Thomas was. You arranged the medical tests.””
Richard said nothing.
I felt my anger rising.
“Then why did you tell me Lily's father was someone else?””
Richard placed the photograph on the table.
“Because Thomas wasn't the only person whose identity was concealed.””
Vanessa suddenly stepped forward.
“Tell him about the clinic.””
Richard's eyes narrowed.
“Be quiet.””
“No. You've controlled everyone for years. I'm finished protecting you.””
She turned to me.
“Daniel, Richard used the fertility clinic to obtain genetic material from wealthy families. He built a network of private medical arrangements. He told people their embryos had failed, their babies had died, or their children needed special treatment.””
I looked at Elena.
“Did you know?””
She nodded slowly.
“I discovered the clinic had used Thomas's medical records to create an embryo without his knowledge. He never knew.””
Richard snapped his fingers.
“That is enough!””
Vanessa ignored him.
“The embryo was implanted into a surrogate. A little girl was born. Richard told everyone the child had died.””
I stared at her.
“And that child is Lily?””
Vanessa nodded.
“Richard is her biological father.””
The words hit me like a physical blow.
I looked at Richard.
“You?””
He didn't deny it.
Instead, he straightened his jacket.
“Genetic parenthood does not automatically establish legal parenthood.””
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
“You used my wife's family to create a child, then gave her to me?””
“Your marriage was unstable. Elena needed a child. You wanted a family. Everyone benefited.””
Elena slapped him.
The sound cracked through the corridor.
“You monster!””
Richard touched his cheek.
“You should be thanking me. Without my arrangements, you would never have had Lily.””
Elena stepped toward him again.
I caught her arm.
“Don't. Let him talk.””
Richard smiled.
“There's another detail you should know, Daniel.””
He pointed toward the photograph of Patient 014.
“That woman is the original genetic mother.””
I stared at the report.
“But you said Lily's mother was Elena.””
“I said the woman who gave birth to her was Elena's daughter.””
The room fell silent.
Vanessa looked confused.
Elena slowly shook her head.
“No. That's impossible.””
Richard opened another file.
Inside were photographs of a young woman.
She looked exactly like Elena.
But she was much younger, perhaps twenty-five.
Underneath the photographs was a medical record.
*PATIENT NAME: EMMA MERCER.*
Elena's knees nearly buckled.
“Emma?””
I turned toward her.
“Who is Emma?””
Elena covered her mouth.
“My daughter.””
I stared.
She took a shaky breath.
“I had a baby before I met you. I was eighteen. My mother told me the baby had died during delivery. She made me sign papers while I was still recovering.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because I believed it. For years, I believed my daughter was dead.””
Richard closed the file.
“Emma survived. She was raised elsewhere. Eventually, she became involved with the clinic.””
Vanessa looked horrified.
“Richard, you told me Emma was dead.””
“She was never dead.””
“Then why did you tell me that?””
“Because you were easier to control when you believed you were the only one who knew the truth.””
I looked at the photographs again.
Emma.
The woman in the hospital bed.
The woman who had given birth to Lily.
And the woman who had somehow become the center of this entire nightmare.
Elena started crying.
“My baby is alive?””
Richard nodded.
“And she knows everything.””
A phone vibrated on the table.
Vanessa looked down.
A message appeared on the screen.
*UNKNOWN NUMBER: I'M AT THE HOUSE. BRING MY DAUGHTER OUTSIDE.*
Then another message arrived.
*IF YOU DON'T, I'LL COME DOWN MYSELF.*
Vanessa's face drained of color.
I picked up the phone.
“Who sent this?””
She looked at Elena.
“Emma.””
Elena whispered her name.
“Emma…”
The lights suddenly went out.
A loud alarm began screaming.
Emergency red lights illuminated the corridor.
Then a woman's voice came through the underground speakers.
“Hello, Mother.””
Elena froze.
The voice continued.
“I've waited eighteen years to meet you.””
A metallic door opened somewhere above us.
Footsteps descended.
Slowly.
Confidently.
Then the speaker crackled again.
“And I've brought something you should see.””
A moment later, a little girl's voice echoed through the darkness.
“Grandma?””
Elena collapsed against me.
May you like
Because the voice sounded exactly like Lily's.
And there was only one person in the world who could explain why.
