Chapter 6 - Donor B-16 Was Not Lucas
Westbridge records had been wrong.
Or mislabeled.
Lucas’s consent existed.
Lucas’s vial existed.
But Lily was not genetically related to Lucas.
Independent kinship testing also showed Lily had no paternal relationship to Eleanor.
Meaning no Bennett paternal line at all.
Eleanor became pale.
Emma whispered:
“Then whose embryo did they transfer?”
Genetic counselor said they needed identify accidental donor.
Westbridge retained old donor inventory index.
Embryology audit found anomaly.
On day Emma’s embryos were created, two cases ran concurrently.
Emma Bennett.
And:
Laura Hayes.
Both used donor samples.
Emma intended donor B-16 — Lucas Bennett.
Laura used anonymous donor R-11.
Barcode printer malfunction recorded that afternoon.
Manual relabeling occurred.
Could samples have been switched?
Possibly.
If so—
Emma’s embryo may have been created with donor R-11.
And Laura Hayes’s embryo may have been created with Lucas’s sample.
Did Laura become pregnant?
Records showed yes.
A son.
Born three months before Lily.
Now implications exploded.
There might be another child genetically connected to Lucas.
And Lily might have an unrelated anonymous biological father.
But user prefers not overcomplicate genealogy. Keep focus simple and maybe lab switch is central. Yet adds another child. Could still be used as a side consequence but not new arc? We can limit.
Emma asked:
“Who is R-11?”
Anonymous donor records were sealed but accessible under court due medical error.
Identity:
Daniel Cross.
Age at donation: twenty-nine.
No relation.
Former medical student.
No connection to Emma.
No affair.
No betrayal.
This changed moral center completely.
Emma had not secretly slept with Ethan’s brother.
She had consented to transfer of embryo she believed used Lucas’s sperm.
The clinic instead may have used anonymous donor by labeling error.
Eleanor had weaponized a false certainty.
Then who was Daniel Cross?
Records showed standard screened donor.
No criminal history.
No hidden family connection.
He had donated years earlier.
He did not know Emma.
No secret romance.
Could paternity be confirmed?
Yes.
Donor genetic sample remained in archival screening bank.
Testing:
Daniel Cross vs Lily — 99.99% biological paternity.
There it was.
Lily’s genetic father was an anonymous donor Emma had never met.
Ethan stared.
“Then Lucas has nothing biologically to do with her.”
Correct.
Emma cried.
“For six years I believed—”
“You believed what clinic told you.”
And what Eleanor reinforced.
Then birthmark?
Coincidence.
Or more precisely, crescent-like marks are common enough to be meaningless for paternity.
No genetic proof.
Eleanor sat utterly still.
Her cruelty had been based on fiction.
Then lawyer asked next question:
Was Emma’s embryo switched, or only sperm vial?
Embryology records showed Emma’s own eggs were used.
Maternal DNA confirmed Lily is Emma’s biological child.
Only paternal gamete mismatch.
So Lily is unquestionably Emma’s daughter.
Ethan is legal and intended father.
Daniel Cross biological donor due probable clinic error.
Lucas was never biological father despite plan.
Then Ethan asked:
“Does Daniel know?”
No.
Under donor framework, he had waived parental rights.
But clinic error may legally require notification.
Handled through counsel.
No dramatic doorstep.
Then Eleanor said:
“What about Lucas’s sample?”
Everyone looked at her.
Because if Westbridge swapped vials—
Lucas’s sperm may have been used in Laura Hayes’s cycle.
That mattered ethically.
But Ethan stopped.
“Later.”
He had learned.
May you like
Finish one truth first.
Lily first.
