Chapter 14 - What Corinne Was Really Afraid Of
Corinne's mother, Evelyn Ward, was Samuel Reeves's first cousin.
That made Corinne eligible under the old family trust.
Her stake was small.
But if certain lines died or disclaimed ownership, it increased.
Morrow had spent years consolidating voting rights through proxies.
He needed Corinne.
Not as Ethan's wife.
As a beneficiary.
When Corinne married Ethan, two family branches became connected under one household.
If she could control Ethan's proxy too, Morrow could effectively dominate Larkspur.
That was why he encouraged the marriage after discovering it.
Did Corinne know?
Eventually.
Not at first.
She found out three years earlier.
Then she made a choice.
Instead of telling Ethan, she negotiated.
Information about Noah.
Money.
And a promise that Morrow would help her gain custody influence over Maisie if Ethan ever discovered the truth.
The bruise on Maisie's arm.
The hair pulling.
The fear.
No corporate conspiracy had forced Corinne to do those things.
Those were Corinne's choices.
The trust explained why she hid.
It did not explain away cruelty.
Then investigators found Morrow.
He had not left the country.
He was living in a closed wing of an old Larkspur property using another name.
Arrested.
Records seized.
No dramatic chase.
No mystery death.
A frightened doctor with decades of paperwork.
Morrow denied intentional embryo switching.
Independent review partially supported him.
Some mismatches resulted from old storage failures and bad record migration.
But he had deliberately concealed known errors afterward.
Forged consents.
Paid silence.
Manipulated reporting.
Used family relationships to maintain control.
That was enough.
Then came the question Ethan feared most.
Was Corinne's lost pregnancy actually connected to him somehow?
Final DNA review said no.
The pregnancy tissue was consistent with Corinne and Lucas Ward's genetic material.
Most likely one of their old embryos had been transferred.
The earlier confusion came from Lucas being biologically related to the Reeves family.
So Corinne had been carrying her own and Lucas's biological child.
Not Ethan's.
Not Morrow's.
Not Samuel's.
She lost a child.
That loss was real.
Ethan did not mock it.
But it did not make Corinne's actions toward Maisie acceptable.
Corinne entered treatment while legal proceedings continued.
She eventually asked to send Ethan a letter.
He read it.
I kept thinking if I could get one thing back—Noah, an embryo, control, money—then I would stop feeling like everyone had taken my life from me.
Instead I started taking from Maisie.
That sentence was the closest Corinne came to understanding.
She did not ask Ethan to forgive her.
Good.
Maisie's future was decided gradually.
Melissa and James both wanted relationships with her.
Neither demanded immediate custody.
Ethan had been her primary parent.
Specialists recommended continuity.
A structured arrangement developed.
Ethan remained her legal guardian during ongoing proceedings.
Melissa became part of her life.
James too.
Noah's adoptive family was contacted through appropriate channels.
Corinne did not gain automatic access.
The family preserved his records for when he was old enough.
Ava's adoptive parents chose limited communication with Ethan.
He received photographs.
School updates.
No forced reunion.
At seven, Ava knew she had biological parents different from the parents raising her.
Details would come gradually.
Ethan struggled with that.
Then remembered Claire's letter.
Do not take her because biology says you can.
He listened.
Then Elena Price came to Ethan with one last item from Claire.
A photograph.
Claire.
Ava as an infant.
And a woman holding her.
Ethan recognized the woman immediately.
Corinne.
He stared.
“Corinne met Ava?”
Elena nodded.
“Once.”
When?
May you like
Before Corinne married Ethan.
That changed everything again.
