Chapter 12 - The Brother Robert Left Behind
James Carter looked like their father.
More than Ethan did.
Same heavy eyebrows.
Same habit of tightening his jaw before saying something cruel.
Their first meeting went badly.
James refused any sentimental reunion.
“I don't need a brother.”
“Good. I didn't bring balloons.”
James almost smiled.
Then stopped.
Ethan asked:
“Why did you preserve the records?”
“Because Morrow wanted them destroyed.”
“Why not expose him?”
“Because my signature is on half of them.”
James had participated in internal fixes.
Not embryo transfers.
Not forged consents.
But confidentiality agreements.
Record corrections.
Settlements.
He told himself he was preventing panic while specialists reconstructed mistakes.
Then years passed.
Nothing was corrected publicly.
He became what he hated.
“Did Dad know?”
“Yes.”
“Did he ask you to stay quiet?”
“Yes.”
“Did he pay you?”
James looked at Ethan.
“Yes.”
There it was.
Robert had paid his first son to maintain silence while building a relationship with his second.
Ethan felt shame for something he hadn't done.
James noticed.
“Don't.”
“What?”
“Don't carry Dad for him.”
That sentence shifted everything.
James had spent his life blaming Ethan because blaming Robert hurt more.
Now he was tired.
He released the archive.
Thirty-seven disputed cases.
Not thousands.
Not a global conspiracy.
Thirty-seven families potentially affected by embryo, donor, or consent errors over fifteen years.
Some records would prove harmless administrative mistakes.
Some could be severe.
Independent review began.
Then James told Ethan something about Maisie.
Melissa Reeves was her biological mother.
But her biological father was not unknown.
He was in the archived sample set.
Name:
James Carter.
Ethan stared at his brother.
“What?”
James went white.
“I didn't know.”
DNA confirmed it.
Years earlier, James and Melissa had a brief relationship while working at Larkspur.
Melissa became pregnant after they separated.
She never told James.
Why?
She believed he was loyal to Morrow.
At the time, she was not entirely wrong.
Maisie was James's biological daughter.
That made Ethan her biological uncle.
Not father.
Not genetically.
But emotionally?
Maisie knew one father.
Ethan.
James did not rush to claim her.
He sat alone for an hour after the result.
Then said:
“What does she need?”
Ethan respected him for asking that first.
They arranged gradual introduction.
James became Uncle James initially.
Melissa remained a slowly introduced biological mother.
Ethan remained Daddy.
Courts and specialists would determine long-term guardianship and parental rights based on the child's best interests, not adult pride.
Then James asked:
“Where is Corinne?”
“Still under investigation.”
“She needs to tell you about the night Robert died.”
Ethan stiffened.
His father died from a verified heart attack.
“Don't.”
“I’m not saying murder.”
“Then what?”
James said Robert called Corinne three hours before he died.
Ethan stared.
Corinne had not yet met Ethan publicly.
At least that's what she claimed.
Phone records confirmed the call.
Seven minutes.
Why?
Corinne had worked at Larkspur years earlier.
Robert knew her.
He had asked her to deliver a box to Ethan.
She never did.
“What box?”
May you like
James answered:
“The one with Dad's real will.”
