Chapter 2 — The Secret in the Medical File

Clara spent the next week investigating everything.

The fertility clinic had changed ownership twice.

Its original director had retired.

Several records had mysteriously disappeared.

But one doctor remembered Clara.

Dr. Helen Moore had been present during the original procedure five years earlier.

When Clara showed her the documents, the doctor went pale.

“I thought you knew.”

“Knew what?”

Dr. Moore closed the door.

“Your embryo was never discarded.”

Clara’s hands tightened around her purse.

“Then where did it go?”

“Someone authorized the transfer.”

“Who?”

The doctor hesitated.

“Your husband’s mother.”

Clara couldn’t breathe.

Daniel’s mother, Evelyn, had always disliked her.

She had repeatedly told Daniel that Clara was not suitable for their family.

Five years earlier, when Clara and Daniel were struggling to conceive, Evelyn had offered to pay for fertility treatment.

Clara had trusted her.

She had never imagined that the woman had arranged something behind her back.

“But why would she give my embryo to another woman?”

Dr. Moore looked at her sadly.

“Because she believed you would never give Daniel the biological heir she wanted.”

Clara felt sick.

“And Elise?”

“We don’t know whether she knew the truth.”

That evening, Clara confronted Daniel.

He arrived at her apartment looking exhausted.

“Did you know?”

Daniel said nothing.

“Did you know that the baby Elise is carrying came from an embryo created from my genetic material?”

His face changed.

Clara understood.

“You knew.”

“I found out recently.”

“When?”

“Two months ago.”

“And you still stayed with her?”

Daniel lowered his head.

“I thought the baby was mine.”

“It is yours.”

Daniel looked at her.

“But it may be mine too.”

Clara’s voice trembled.

“I know.”

Daniel stepped closer.

“I was going to tell you.”

“No. You were going to wait until you could decide which woman was more convenient.”

“That isn’t fair.”

Clara laughed bitterly.

“Fair?”

She held up the medical records.

“Your mother secretly took an embryo created from my body and gave it to another woman. You cheated on me. And now you’re standing here asking me to understand?”

Daniel had no answer.

Then his phone rang.

It was Elise.

He answered.

Her voice was shaking.

“Daniel, you need to come to the hospital.”

“What happened?”

“They found something wrong with the pregnancy.”

Daniel left immediately.

Clara remained alone.

Hours later, Daniel returned.

Elise had been admitted for observation.

But the doctors had discovered something far more serious.

A genetic screening test showed that the baby carried a rare inherited condition.

A condition that could be traced to Clara’s family.

Daniel looked at Clara with tears in his eyes.

“The doctors say the baby is genetically related to you.”

Clara closed her eyes.

For five years, she had wanted a child.

Now, the child she had lost without knowing it was growing inside the woman who had destroyed her marriage.

But there was another secret.

One that even Evelyn had never known.

The embryo had been created from Clara’s egg.

But Daniel’s sperm had not been used.