Chapter 13 - The Baby Ethan Thought Was His
Ethan allowed himself grief.
He had known Sophie only weeks.
But had rearranged work.
Bought crib.
Read about infant sleep.
Imagined first birthday.
Imagined hearing “Dad.”
Then DNA erased role.
Emma found him packing unused baby items.
“You don’t have to throw them away.”
“I’m not.”
“What are you doing?”
“Giving Rebecca whatever she wants.”
Rebecca accepted car seat and unopened supplies.
Not personalized blanket Ethan had ordered:
SOPHIE BENNETT.
He stared at embroidery.
Then put away.
Some symbols hurt.
Emma sat beside.
“Do you regret meeting her?”
“No.”
That answer immediate.
Then Ethan asked harder:
“Do you think part of me wanted test to be wrong?”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“Me too.”
But he did not challenge correct result to preserve feeling.
Truth before preferred story.
Meanwhile Claire’s gestational baby—temporarily called Baby Ross in legal records—became focus of careful mediation.
Emily Ross wanted immediate custody.
Claire resisted.
“I carried her.”
Both emotionally understandable.
Court prioritized infant stability and lawful process.
Gradual transfer plan developed pending parentage ruling.
Claire’s conduct toward Sophie weighed heavily, but court did not use punishment as shortcut.
Emily met Claire under supervision.
“I hate what clinic did to us,” Emily said.
Claire expected attack.
Instead Emily added:
“But you didn’t choose wrong embryo.”
Claire cried.
Then Emily:
“What you did afterward is different.”
Exactly.
Separate errors from choices.
Laura Wynn testified clinic had culture of delay.
Every bad news moved upward.
Every executive asked for more confirmation.
Nobody wanted be first to tell patient.
By time truth reached Claire, months passed.
That culture mirrored family secrecy.
Hawthorne board accepted external monitor.
Nathan’s role ended.
Then old donor-214 descendants received confidential outreach.
Some wanted know.
Some declined.
Respect.
Jonathan Vale’s surviving family learned samples used without consent.
They requested no contact with genetic descendants unless mutually desired.
Genetics did not impose relationships.
Rebecca agreed.
She had enough family complexity.
Then Margaret visited Rebecca again.
This time Rebecca let her hold Sophie.
Margaret cried quietly.
“Last time I held your mother, I thought I’d see her tomorrow.”
Rebecca watched.
“And then?”
“I let thirty-four years happen.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I also didn’t look hard enough.”
Rebecca did not absolve.
But she said:
“You looked this time.”
Margaret had dived after rolling bin.
She had protected Sophie while Claire struck her.
Not to erase past.
But current choice mattered.
Then Claire requested Ethan visit detention/secured setting before hearing.
He almost refused.
Emma said:
“If you need answer, go.”
He did.
Claire asked:
“Do you think I’m like Helen?”
Ethan thought.
“You both believed fear gave you permission.”
Claire lowered eyes.
“I loved that baby.”
“Which one?”
She froze.
That question exposed everything.
The child she carried?
Sophie?
Idea of Ethan’s daughter?
Child who might bring Ethan back?
Claire whispered:
“I don’t know anymore.”
Ethan stood.
“That’s why children can’t be used to solve adult fear.”
He left.
One mystery remained before final payoff.
Why had Helen Cole written to Claire:
GET HER OUT OF MY HOUSE?
Claire’s mansion was not Helen’s.
Yet original message in recovered phone metadata did not actually say “my house.”
Video Claire shouted:
“GET HER OUT OF MY HOUSE!”
That was Claire’s own language.
Not sender.
May you like
Important.
The cruelty belonged to Claire.
