Chapter 12 - THE EMBRYO IN STORAGE
Daniel remembered providing a fertility sample two years earlier.
Vanessa told him the clinic required preliminary testing before marriage.
He signed general consent forms without reading every page.
Marcus’s attorney had prepared them.
The documents authorized the creation and storage of embryos.
Daniel’s signature was real.
His understanding was not.
Vanessa had planned more than a fake pregnancy.
She had created a future child she could use whenever necessary.
The embryo remained frozen at a private clinic.
Its ownership became part of the criminal investigation.
Vanessa requested a meeting with Daniel.
He refused at first.
Then Evelyn advised him to hear what she wanted.
The meeting took place through a secure jail video system.
Vanessa appeared without makeup.
Her hair was tied back.
The confidence from the garden had disappeared.
“I loved you,” she said.
Daniel did not react.
“You loved the life attached to me.”
“I wanted a family.”
“You told Marcus you wanted controlling shares.”
“He manipulated me.”
“You cut my mother’s hair while laughing.”
Vanessa looked toward me.
I stood behind Daniel but remained outside the camera’s view.
“She was always between us.”
“No.”
Daniel leaned closer.
“She warned me.”
“I kept placing you between me and the truth.”
Vanessa’s mouth tightened.
“The embryo is ours.”
“No.”
“It is genetically ours.”
“That does not make your plan a family.”
She began crying.
“If you destroy it, you will be killing our child.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
The sentence struck where she intended.
I placed one hand on his shoulder.
He looked back at me.
Then he faced Vanessa.
“A potential child cannot be used to force a relationship.”
“The court will decide what happens.”
“I will not make that decision while you threaten me.”
Vanessa wiped her tears.
“You sound like your mother.”
“For the first time, that does not embarrass me.”
The call ended.
A family court appointed an independent guardian to represent any future interests connected to the embryo.
Medical experts confirmed it could remain stored safely while legal issues were resolved.
Daniel requested that no implantation occur without mutual consent.
Vanessa fought the request.
She claimed reproductive rights.
The case attracted national attention.
Reporters again gathered outside our gate.
Some described Vanessa as a woman fighting for motherhood.
Others called her a criminal trying to create another victim.
I refused interviews.
The child that might exist deserved privacy.
Meanwhile, Chloe gave police a second phone.
She had hidden it from Vanessa.
It contained messages dating back eighteen months.
One conversation revealed that Marcus and Vanessa were not the first people to discuss my voting shares.
A message from an unknown number read.
Robert’s widow will never sell willingly.
Use Daniel.
May you like
The sender’s initials were R.M.
Those were my late husband’s initials.
