Chapter 13
I reached across the table.
Paige took my hand.
Neither of us knew what to say.
The investigation into the clinic revealed another devastating detail.
The authorization form bearing my forged signature had been accompanied by a letter supposedly written by me.
The letter stated that I wished to donate our remaining embryo because I no longer intended to become a parent.
I read it in Rebecca’s office.
Every sentence felt like a knife.
The letter described a woman who had supposedly made peace with infertility.
A woman who wanted another family to have the happiness she could not experience herself.
It was written in my voice.
But I had never written it.
The document contained details about my fertility treatment that only someone close to me could have known.
Alistair had used my own grief to make the lie more believable.
And the clinic had accepted it.
The investigators ultimately identified evidence connecting the forged authorization to Alistair’s communications with the former medical director.
George had helped facilitate the introduction through his connections to the clinic.
Martha had been aware that an embryo from our treatment was being transferred.
Their involvement in the financial scheme was no longer the only reason investigators wanted to question them.
When Rebecca told me, I sat silently.
I thought about Martha standing beside Paige at the hospital.
Her hand resting on Paige’s shoulder.
Her affectionate smile whenever Matty called her Grandma.
She had known.
While I cried over the children I believed I would never have, my mother-in-law had been celebrating birthdays with my biological son.
There are betrayals that make you angry.
And there are betrayals that change the way you understand every memory of your life.
This was the second kind.
Alistair called me the evening after the genetic results arrived.
I almost didn’t answer.
But Rebecca had advised me to keep any communication brief and avoid discussing the investigation without legal guidance.
I accepted the call.
“Jacqueline.”
His voice sounded strained.
“We need to talk.”
“About what?”
“Paige is acting crazy. She’s refusing to let me see Matty.”
I closed my eyes.
“She’s protecting her son.”
“He’s my son too.”
I felt tears rising.
“Alistair, I know.”
He went silent.
I continued.
“I know about the embryo.”
Nothing.
“I know about the clinic. The forged authorization. The letter you submitted in my name.”
“Jacqueline, listen—”
“And I know Matty is biologically mine.”
For several seconds, I heard only his breathing.
Then he whispered, “How did you find out?”
I almost laughed.
Even now, he wasn’t asking whether I was okay.
He wasn’t apologizing.
He simply wanted to know how his secret had been exposed.
“Why?” I asked.
May you like
“Jacqueline—”
“Why did you do it?”
