Chapter 9 - Melissa Reeves
Melissa agreed to meet Ethan.
Not immediately.
She had spent more than a year believing her daughter was gone somewhere she could never reach.
Now she learned Maisie was alive.
Raised by Ethan.
The man she had once named in a hypothetical guardianship note.
Why Ethan?
Melissa explained.
She had worked in Larkspur's compliance department.
She discovered old settlement files involving Robert Carter.
Unlike her father Samuel, Robert eventually admitted the clinic's storage practices were wrong.
Before his death, Robert secretly contacted Melissa.
He gave her access to voting proxies tied to his shares.
He said:
“If they ever do to your child what they did to my sister, find Ethan.”
Helen.
Robert's lost sister.
He had regretted silence.
Too late to fix his relationship with Helen.
Not too late to create a safeguard.
Melissa later became pregnant naturally.
She had no reason to think Larkspur would touch her child.
Then postpartum complications left her temporarily incapacitated.
Her father Samuel took control.
He believed Melissa was unstable.
He used Larkspur's legal department to arrange care.
That care became permanent placement.
“Did Samuel intentionally give Maisie to Ethan?” Ethan asked.
Melissa shook her head.
“No.”
Then how?
Morrow.
He found Robert's old instruction.
He saw an opportunity.
If Melissa's baby ended up with Ethan, Morrow could keep both families under observation.
Maisie became a bridge between Carter and Reeves.
Not because of some grand genetic experiment.
Because Morrow wanted control over evidence.
He manipulated discharge records so Maisie entered Claire's case.
Then Claire took her home believing she was the transferred embryo child.
Morrow assumed no one would test.
Claire did.
Everything began collapsing.
Melissa cried when told about Maisie's bruise.
“Can I see her?”
Ethan wanted to say yes.
Immediately.
Then stopped.
Maisie was fourteen months.
Melissa was a stranger to her.
They needed specialists.
Gradual contact.
Safe contact.
Not a dramatic handover.
Melissa agreed.
That mattered.
The first meeting happened in a child-development center.
Melissa sat across the room.
Maisie played with blocks beside Ethan.
No one said “Mommy.”
No one forced affection.
Melissa cried silently.
Maisie eventually looked at her.
Then returned to the blocks.
That was enough.
Later Melissa asked Ethan:
“Do you want to keep her?”
He stared.
“She isn't property.”
“I know.”
“She's my daughter in every way she's capable of understanding right now.”
Melissa nodded.
“And mine biologically.”
“Yes.”
They would need courts.
Family specialists.
Time.
Neither adult got to decide everything alone.
Then Corinne learned Melissa had returned.
Her reaction was panic.
Not jealousy.
“She can't find Lucas.”
Ethan frowned.
“Why?”
“Because Lucas knows where my embryo child is.”
Corinne's missing child.
Lucas Ward had disappeared from her life ten years earlier.
Records showed he moved to Colorado.
Still alive.
When investigators contacted him, Lucas refused to speak.
Then sent one message to Ethan:
ASK CORINNE WHAT SHE DID THE NIGHT CLAIRE DIED.
Ethan froze.
Claire's death had been medically documented.
Pulmonary embolism.
Lucas wasn't alleging murder necessarily.
But he knew something.
Corinne denied seeing Claire that night.
Phone records said otherwise.
Corinne's phone had connected to the hospital tower for thirty-eight minutes.
Three hours before Claire collapsed.
Why?
Corinne finally admitted:
“She called me.”
Ethan stared.
Claire had discovered Maisie wasn't theirs.
She somehow traced the Reeves bracelet to Corinne.
Why call Corinne?
Because Claire believed Corinne still worked with Morrow.
Corinne met her.
Claire handed her a copy of the DNA result.
And one envelope.
Addressed:
ETHAN — IF I DON'T GET TO TELL HIM.
Corinne never delivered it.
“Where is it?”
May you like
Corinne looked down.
“I gave it to Lucas.”
