Chapter 10 - The Price of Betrayal
Chloe swore she had never controlled Northstar’s bank account.
Investigators did not believe her.
Neither did I.
“At least not immediately.”
I added.
We sat across from one another in a federal interview room.
Noah had been taken home by the court-appointed caregiver.
Chloe looked smaller without him.
Less convincing.
Less protected.
“I signed incorporation papers.”
She admitted.
“Marcus said it was for shelter consulting.”
“How many papers?”
“I don’t know.”
“That answer is convenient.”
“I didn’t read everything.”
I laughed.
“You stole my passport while I slept, but business paperwork was where you became careless?”
Her eyes filled.
“I deserve that.”
“You deserve far worse.”
Dana touched my arm.
Chloe looked at investigators.
“I never transferred money.”
Renee placed bank statements on the table.
“Your electronic signature authorized fourteen transfers.”
Chloe stared.
“That isn’t my signature.”
“It uses your certificate.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“It means someone logged into the banking portal using credentials issued to you.”
“I never had credentials.”
Renee leaned forward.
“Who did?”
“Marcus.”
The answer came immediately.
“Can you prove that?”
“No.”
Renee placed another sheet down.
“Three-point-eight million dollars passed through Northstar.”
Chloe covered her mouth.
“He told me the company barely made anything.”
“Where did you think your new car came from?”
“Marcus bought it.”
“Your apartment?”
“Marcus.”
“Designer clothes?”
“Marcus.”
“Diamond pendant?”
Chloe’s fingers instinctively touched the empty place at her throat.
“Marcus.”
Renee’s voice sharpened.
“Did it ever occur to you to ask how he was paying for all of that while simultaneously claiming the shelter could not afford additional beds?”
Chloe looked away.
The silence was answer enough.
She had not wanted to know.
That did not make her innocent.
It made her useful.
Renee slid another document across the table.
“This payment was made the night before your embryo transfer.”
$25,000.
Recipient: P. Keller Consulting.
“Was it yours?”
“No.”
“Did you know Marcus paid him?”
“No.”
“Did you know Keller arranged your procedure?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know Keller worked with Marcus outside Crestview?”
“I knew they were friends.”
“Friends do not usually receive twenty-five-thousand-dollar payments the night before a medical procedure.”
“I did not know.”
I watched Chloe carefully.
She might have been telling the truth.
That angered me too.
Marcus had built his crimes so everyone knew only enough to participate.
No one knew enough to control him.
Except perhaps Adrian.
That afternoon, Adrian Cole agreed to speak with me.
Renee objected.
I insisted.
He looked terrible.
One eye swollen.
Stitches above his temple.
Bandages around two fingers.
He sat in a hospital bed guarded by an agent.
“I’m sorry.”
He said it before I reached the chair.
I remained standing.
“Everybody is sorry now.”
“I deserve that.”
“Tell me something useful.”
Adrian nodded.
“BioLegacy was my idea.”
I felt sick.
“Not the embryo theft.”
“The company.”
“Why?”
“Marcus approached me about a private fertility investment.”
“What kind?”
“He said wealthy clients wanted anonymous embryo donation with premium genetic screening.”
“Premium.”
“I know how it sounds.”
“It sounds exactly like what it was.”
He lowered his eyes.
“I thought the embryos came from consenting donors.”
“When did you learn otherwise?”
“Your third embryo.”
I stared.
“Explain.”
“Marcus had Keller prepare documents.”
“I handled payments.”
“Then I saw your name.”
“When?”
“After Noah’s embryo had already been transferred.”
My jaw tightened.
“You knew before Lucas.”
“Yes.”
“And did nothing.”
“I confronted Marcus.”
“What did he say?”
“That you had consented.”
“Did you believe him?”
“At first.”
I laughed bitterly.
Apparently Marcus possessed a magical ability to make every adult around him temporarily incapable of skepticism.
“What changed?”
“I saw the signature.”
“You’re a banker, not a handwriting expert.”
“I had signed contracts with you for Harbor House.”
“I knew your signature.”
My stomach tightened.
“You knew it was forged.”
“Yes.”
“What did you do?”
“I told him I was out.”
“And?”
“He threatened me.”
“With what?”
“Financial crimes.”
“Had you committed any?”
Adrian looked away.
“Yes.”
There it was.
Everyone had something.
Marcus collected secrets like insurance policies.
“I had moved money through shell companies.”
“For BioLegacy?”
“And the shelter.”
My anger sharpened.
“You stole from Harbor House.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Personally?”
“I don’t care how you divide guilt.”
He flinched.
“About six hundred thousand.”
I stood.
Dana stepped between us.
“Sit down.”
I stared at Adrian.
“Women slept in cars because we lacked funding.”
“I know.”
“Children stayed with abusive fathers because their mothers had nowhere to go.”
“I know.”
“We canceled counseling programs.”
“I know.”
“You stole from them.”
“Yes.”
“Why should I believe anything you say?”
“Because I saved copies.”
I stopped.
“Of what?”
“Everything.”
“Transactions.”
“Embryo records.”
“Marcus’s messages.”
“Keller’s invoices.”
“Northstar.”
“Asteria.”
“All of it.”
Renee leaned forward.
“Where?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Safe-deposit box.”
“Location?”
“I want a deal.”
Of course.
Renee’s expression became cold.
“You are in no position to dictate terms.”
“I am if you want Marcus.”
“You think we don’t already have him?”
“You have pieces.”
“I have the map.”
I hated him.
But I wanted the map.
“Why did Marcus have you attacked?”
I asked.
Adrian looked at me.
“Because I found the children.”
My stomach tightened.
“What children?”
“Not yours.”
“Others.”
“How many?”
“Nine confirmed.”
Renee said investigators already knew nine.
Adrian shook his head.
“Nine besides Elena’s.”
The room froze.
“Twelve total?”
He nodded.
“Possibly more.”
I sat down.
“How?”
“Keller expanded the program.”
“Marcus supplied clients.”
“Embryos came from clinics where Keller had contacts.”
“Some were donated legally.”
“Some weren’t.”
“Did Marcus know which?”
“Yes.”
“Did the buyers?”
“Usually not.”
Usually.
The word was horrifying.
“Usually?”
“Two clients specifically requested embryos from non-donors.”
Renee’s face hardened.
“Why?”
“Privacy.”
I stared.
“They wanted children from people who never consented because they believed those people would never come looking.”
“Yes.”
I felt sick.
“What did they pay?”
“Over a million dollars each.”
Silence.
The world suddenly seemed uglier than I understood.
“Why were my embryos first?”
Adrian hesitated.
“Marcus wanted to prove the system worked.”
“He experimented with my children.”
“Yes.”
“And Noah?”
“Was never intended for sale.”
“Why?”
Adrian looked at me.
“Marcus wanted a biological son.”
“With Chloe.”
“Yes.”
“Why not stay married to me?”
His answer was immediate.
“Because he hated that you knew him before he was rich.”
The sentence caught me off guard.
“What?”
“He told me once.”
“Marcus said everyone he met after his first million respected him.”
“You remembered what he was before.”
I thought of our first apartment.
Secondhand furniture.
Takeout dinners.
Marcus struggling to build his company.
Me working two jobs while he borrowed against everything we owned.
I had loved him then.
Perhaps that was the problem.
I knew he had once been ordinary.
“He wanted a woman who worshiped him.”
Adrian nodded.
“Chloe did.”
I closed my eyes.
“And he wanted the children we created.”
“Yes.”
“Because?”
“He considered your genetics valuable.”
I felt disgusted.
“He actually said that?”
“Repeatedly.”
Dana looked at Adrian.
“What about Elena’s early pregnancy?”
His expression changed.
“You know.”
“We have a recording.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“I told Marcus not to interfere.”
“You knew?”
“Afterward.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because by then I was already involved in other crimes.”
I stood again.
“You all keep telling me fear made you silent.”
“I need one of you to admit greed did.”
Adrian met my eyes.
“Greed did.”
Finally.
“Good.”
I turned to leave.
“Elena.”
I stopped.
“There’s something about Lucas.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
“The Bennetts did not buy the embryo directly from Marcus.”
“Who did?”
“Someone purchased it first.”
I turned slowly.
“What are you talking about?”
“The embryo was sold twice.”
Dana frowned.
“To whom?”
Adrian looked at me.
“The first buyer was Chloe.”
My body went cold.
“No.”
“She paid a deposit.”
“How much?”
“One hundred thousand.”
“I saw the transfer.”
“When?”
“Before she was pregnant with Noah.”
That made no sense.
“Why would Chloe buy another embryo before knowing whether her transfer worked?”
Adrian swallowed.
“Because Marcus promised her two children.”
My head snapped toward Dana.
“And she knew they were mine?”
Adrian hesitated.
“Yes.”
The room blurred.
Chloe had told me she did not know about the second embryo.
Another lie.
“What happened?”
I asked.
“She changed her mind.”
“Why?”
“After Noah’s transfer succeeded, she panicked.”
“She told Marcus she couldn’t raise two of your children while pretending they were hers.”
“So Marcus sold the second embryo to the Bennetts.”
“Eventually.”
“And Chloe lost her deposit?”
“No.”
Adrian looked ashamed.
“Marcus reimbursed her.”
“With what?”
Adrian’s silence told me.
“Shelter money.”
He nodded.
One hundred thousand dollars intended for battered women had been used to refund Chloe for a stolen embryo she decided she did not want.
I walked out before I did something I would regret.
Dana followed me.
We made it halfway down the corridor before my phone vibrated.
A message.
From Chloe.
I NEED TO TELL YOU SOMETHING BEFORE ADRIAN DOES.
I stared at the words.
Too late.
A second message appeared.
IT’S ABOUT LUCAS.
Then another.
MARCUS DIDN’T SELL HIM BECAUSE I CHANGED MY MIND.
My heart hammered.
HE SOLD HIM BECAUSE I FOUND OUT I WAS PREGNANT WITH TWINS.
I stopped walking.
Dana read over my shoulder.
“What?”
The next message came.
NOAH HAD A TWIN.
My hands began shaking.
I called Chloe.
She answered immediately.
“What are you talking about?”
She was crying.
“The doctor implanted two embryos.”
“No.”
“Marcus told you only one?”
“I thought one of my embryos went to you.”
“Both did.”
I nearly dropped the phone.
“Both?”
“Yes.”
“Then what happened?”
Chloe began sobbing.
“One stopped developing at nine weeks.”
I pressed my hand against the wall.
“So Lucas couldn’t have been that embryo.”
“No.”
“Then whose embryo was Lucas?”
Silence.
My blood went cold.
“Chloe.”
“Adrian doesn’t know everything.”
“Tell me.”
“The embryo sold to the Bennetts wasn’t from your final cycle.”
My pulse roared.
“Then where did it come from?”
Chloe whispered, “Your third IVF cycle.”
I stopped breathing.
That cycle had supposedly produced zero viable embryos too.
“How many children did Marcus steal from me?”
Chloe cried harder.
“I don’t know.”
And suddenly the three children I had discovered were no longer the whole story.
May you like
They were only the beginning.
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