Chapter 4: The Father Who Was Never Supposed to Know
For several seconds, James couldn't hear anything except the blood rushing through his ears.
“Because James Cole was never supposed to be the father.””
The man's voice continued to echo in his mind, even after Victoria stopped the recording.
He stared at his wife. She stood beside the kitchen counter, clutching Emily's phone so tightly that her knuckles had turned white.
“Play it again,” James said.
Victoria shook her head.
“No.””
“Play it again.””
“James, you're upset. I understand that.””
“Then stop talking to me like I'm one of the babies and play the damn recording!””
Noah stirred in his bassinet in the living room. Lily began to whimper a moment later.
Victoria glanced toward them, and something flickered across her face.
Annoyance.
It disappeared so quickly that James might have missed it if he hadn't been watching her.
“Don't shout in front of the children,” she said.
“Who was that man?””
“I can't tell you.””
“Why not?””
“Because you won't understand.””
James laughed bitterly.
“That's convenient. Every time I ask you a question, suddenly I'm too stupid to understand the answer.””
Victoria placed Emily's phone on the counter.
“You're not stupid. You're a good man. That's why I married you.””
“Did you marry me because you loved me?””
She stared at him.
The silence was more painful than any answer she could have given.
James stepped backward.
“Oh, my God.””
“James, please.””
“Were the babies conceived naturally? Was any of this real?””
Victoria reached for his hand.
He pulled away.
“Answer me!””
Her face tightened.
“Your sister has poisoned your mind.””
“My sister has been locked in our house for eleven days!””
“I was protecting her!””
“From what?””
Victoria opened her mouth, then closed it.
For the first time, she seemed unable to manufacture an answer quickly enough.
James took Emily's phone from the counter.
Victoria immediately grabbed his wrist.
“Don't.””
He looked down at her hand.
“Let go.””
“James, you don't know what's on there.””
“That's exactly why I'm listening.””
He pulled free and pressed play.
The recording continued from the point where Victoria had stopped it.
The man sounded older than James had imagined, with the measured confidence of someone accustomed to being obeyed.
“Because James Cole was never supposed to be the father. The original donor agreement was arranged through Northbridge. The biological father was selected for genetic compatibility, and the transfer was supposed to happen before the children were born.””
A pause followed.
Then the man continued.
“You were supposed to raise one child temporarily. The other was promised to the family who funded the procedure. James was chosen because he had no reason to suspect the arrangement, and because his family name gave the child a clean legal history.””
James felt his knees weaken.
He gripped the counter.
The recording ended with a burst of static.
Victoria closed her eyes.
“Who is the biological father?”” James whispered.
She didn't answer.
“Victoria!””
“I don't know his name.””
“That's a lie.””
“I never met him. Everything was handled through the clinic.””
“Then why marry me?””
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
For a moment, she looked like the woman who had cried against his chest when they first learned they were expecting twins.
“Because I fell in love with you,” she whispered.
James stared at her.
“And you decided to build our marriage on a lie?””
“I thought I could fix it.””
“Fix what?””
“The agreement.””
He shook his head.
Victoria took a trembling breath.
“When I signed the paperwork, they told me there would be one baby. One. I was desperate to become a mother, James. You know what those years were like.
The failed treatments. The appointments. The nights I cried because everyone around us seemed to get pregnant except me.””
James remembered every one of those nights.
He remembered driving her home from appointments, buying flowers, and telling her they would find another way.
He had believed their grief belonged to both of them.
“I agreed to the procedure because they promised me a child,” Victoria continued.
“Then they told me there were two embryos. They said the second would be transferred to another family after delivery.””
“And you accepted that?””
“I was terrified. I thought I would lose everything if I backed out.””
“So you let me believe both children were ours.””
“They are ours!””
“Then why did that man say I wasn't supposed to be their father?””
Victoria wiped her cheeks.
“Because the biological arrangement was different. You were supposed to be the legal father. You were supposed to raise them.””
“Supposed to?””
She flinched.
James understood then that the phrase wasn't merely a mistake.
Someone had written an entire future for his children before he had ever held them.
And Victoria had signed her name beneath it.
“Who was supposed to take Noah?”” he asked.
Victoria looked toward the living room.
“The Harpers.””
“Who are they?””
“A wealthy couple who had been trying to have a child for years. They funded the arrangement through Northbridge.””
“And Lily?””
“They weren't supposed to take Lily.””
“Then why did the recording say they wanted her instead?””
“Because something changed.””
“What changed?””
Victoria pressed her lips together.
James picked up the phone.
“I'm calling the police.””
“No!””
She lunged for the device.
James stepped away, but she caught his sleeve.
“James, listen to me. If you call them now, they'll take the babies while they investigate. You could lose custody of both children.””
“You think I'm afraid of losing custody?””
“I think you're afraid of losing your family.””
He looked at her.
“You already took that from me.””
A noise sounded upstairs.
Three sharp bangs.
Emily.
James ran toward the staircase.
Victoria followed.
“James, don't open that door!””
He ignored her.
At the top of the stairs, he reached the locked room and pulled at the handle.
“Emily! I'm getting you out!””
“James, wait!”” she shouted.
“Don't use the key!””
He turned.
Victoria stood behind him, breathing hard.
“Why shouldn't I?”” he demanded.
“Because the lock is broken. The door opens inward, and the furniture is blocking it.””
James looked at her.
“How would you know?””
She said nothing.
He rushed to the door and slammed his shoulder against it. The wood shuddered but held.
“Emily, move away!””
He hit it again.
A loud crack split the frame.
On the third attempt, the door flew inward, knocking over a narrow cabinet.
Emily stumbled backward, shielding her face.
She looked thinner than he remembered. Her hair hung in tangled strands, and a bruise darkened one cheek. Her wrists were raw from the metal restraints attached to a pipe.
James dropped to his knees.
“Oh, God. Emily.””
He reached for her.
She seized his shirt with both hands.
“Did you listen to the recording?””
“Yes.””
“Then we have to leave. Now.””
Victoria appeared in the doorway.
“Emily, stop frightening him.””
Emily recoiled so violently that her shoulder struck the wall.
“Stay away from me!””
Victoria held up her palms.
“I know you're angry.””
“You drugged me!””
James went still.
Victoria's face hardened.
“That is an outrageous accusation.””
Emily laughed, a broken, breathless sound.
“You put something in my tea the night I came here. When I woke up, I was locked in this room. You took my phone, my wallet, everything!””
“I was trying to keep you safe.””
“Safe from the people you invited into your life?””
Victoria's eyes narrowed.
Emily looked at James.
“The man in that recording isn't the only person involved. There's someone inside the clinic helping them. Someone who signed the birth records.””
James remembered the mismatched dates.
“Who?””
Emily swallowed.
“Dr. Adrian Shaw.””
“I found his photograph,” James said.
Emily's face went pale.
“You found the photograph?””
“And the memory card.””
She grabbed his arm.
“Then you found the file about the biological father.””
“I heard it.””
“Did you hear the last recording?””
“No. Victoria stopped it.””
Emily turned toward her.
“You still have it, don't you?””
Victoria backed toward the hallway.
“Give us the phone,” James said.
She looked at him, and for one fleeting moment her face seemed stripped of every familiar expression.
“You really don't understand what you've done,” she whispered.
Then she reached into her cardigan pocket and pulled out a small remote control.
She pressed a button.
A sharp electronic beep sounded downstairs.
Emily screamed.
“No! James, the nursery!””
He ran.
The nursery door stood open. Both bassinets were empty.
On the floor lay Lily's pink blanket.
And beside it was a white envelope bearing James's name.
He tore it open with shaking hands.
Inside was a single photograph of a black SUV parked outside their house.
On the back, someone had written:
*ONE CHILD BY MIDNIGHT. OR YOU LOSE THEM BOTH.*
Behind him, Victoria spoke quietly.
“They know where the babies are.””
James turned toward her.
“Where are my children?””
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Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
And this time, James couldn't tell whether they were real.
