Chương 6
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“One was created with Andrew’s sample.”
She looked down at Emma.
“The other was created later.”
Christopher moved closer.
“With whose?”
Michelle’s voice almost disappeared.
“Yours.”
Nobody spoke.
Even Evelyn seemed unable to find a response.
Christopher stared at the two babies, one in Michelle’s arms and one in his mother’s.
“So one is mine.”
“Possibly.”
“And one is Andrew’s.”
“Possibly.”
“What do you mean, possibly?”
“Embryos don’t come with labels after implantation.”
His face twisted.
“You knew there could be two fathers.”
“Yes.”
“And you let me stand in that hospital telling everyone they were my twins.”
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“I was scared.”
He laughed bitterly.
“Of losing me?”
Michelle looked at him for a long moment.
“No.”
That stopped him.
She kissed Emma’s forehead.
“I was scared of what you would do if one of them wasn’t yours.”
Christopher took a step backward.
I saw the insult register before the implication.
Then his gaze shifted toward the boy in Evelyn’s arms.
The crescent beneath the baby’s ear was still visible.
“You think Noah is Andrew’s.”
Michelle did not answer.
“You think my son is my brother’s son.”
Evelyn whispered, “We need a DNA test.”
Christopher turned on her.
“You don’t get to say that.”
“Christopher.”
“You lied about Andrew.”
“I did.”
“You let Dad keep his sperm in some clinic for twenty-five years.”
“I didn’t know.”
“And now you’re standing there looking at that baby like he belongs to a ghost.”
Evelyn’s face crumpled.
I moved toward her, but she shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at Christopher.
“I’m looking at him like he is a child who deserves the truth.”
Christopher’s phone began ringing.
He pulled it out, glanced at the screen, and rejected the call.
Almost immediately it rang again.
I recognized the name before he turned the display away.
Daniel Mercer.
Christopher declined it a second time.
My own phone vibrated.
Priya.
Then Evelyn’s rang on the coffee table.
The three of us looked at one another.
Christopher went pale.
“What?”
I answered mine.
Priya spoke before I could say hello.
“Victoria, do not sign, transfer, delete, or discuss anything involving Vextor until I get there.”
“Get where?”
“Phoenix.”
I looked at Christopher.
“Why?”
There was a rustle of papers on Priya’s end.
“Because Daniel just discovered Sonoran Strategic Holdings wasn’t only paying clinic expenses.”
Christopher lowered himself into a chair.
Priya continued.
“Someone has been moving Vextor money through it for years.”
I watched Christopher’s face.
He was no longer looking at the babies.
He was looking at the floor.
And for the second time that afternoon, I recognized fear before anyone said what it meant.
Christopher lifted his head slowly, but he did not look at me.
“What did Daniel find?”
Priya heard him through my phone.
“Put me on speaker.”
I hesitated, then tapped the icon.
Her voice filled the room with the flat professionalism she used when facts were worse than feelings.
“Daniel found three internal transfers routed through Sonoran over the last fourteen months that don’t match the consulting agreements in Vextor’s books.”
Christopher stood again.
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“It means enough that he called me instead of his own client.”
“Daniel is my lawyer.”
“Daniel represents you in the divorce.”
Priya’s tone sharpened.
“He does not represent Vextor in a potential fraud matter.”
Evelyn shifted Noah against her shoulder.
“What kind of fraud?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Christopher crossed the room toward my phone as if proximity would let him control the conversation.
“Then stop calling it fraud.”
“I said potential fraud.”
“You’re implying I stole from my own company.”
“No.”
Priya paused.
“I’m implying someone moved money in ways that require explanation.”
Christopher looked at me.
“You started this.”
I stared back at him.
“I found records.”
“You went digging because you were angry.”
“I went digging because my money was tied to your company.”
“Our company.”
“You corrected me on that distinction during mediation.”
Michelle closed her eyes for a second.
The baby girl had settled against her chest, one tiny fist pressed near her chin.
Christopher noticed her watching him.
“What?”
She shook her head.
“Nothing.”
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Look at me like you suddenly don’t know me.”
Michelle’s mouth tightened.
“I’m trying very hard to figure out whether I ever did.”
That silenced him.
Priya said, “Victoria, I need copies of everything you have related to Sonoran.”
“I have them.”
“Do not email them from your regular account.”
Christopher laughed bitterly.
“Oh, wonderful.”
“Chris,” Michelle said.
“No, this is perfect.”
He pointed at me.
“She gets dumped, decides she’s an investigator, and now everyone acts like I’m running a criminal enterprise.”
“I didn’t dump you,” I said.
His face changed.
It was petty of me, and I knew it.
But I had spent months swallowing corrections because making him comfortable seemed easier than fighting over language.
Not anymore.
“You left after sleeping with my best friend.”
“I filed for divorce.”
“Yes.”
“Same result.”
“No.”
The word came out quieter than I expected.
“Not remotely.”
He looked away first.
Priya said, “I’m driving over with Daniel.”
“How long?” I asked.
“About twenty minutes.”
Christopher snapped, “He’s coming here?”
“Yes.”
“This is my mother’s house.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“No, Christopher.”
He blinked.
“It is mine.”
The correction embarrassed him more than it should have.
He walked into the kitchen without answering.
A cabinet opened hard enough to hit the wall.
Nobody followed him.
I sat on the edge of an armchair and rubbed the indentation Evelyn’s fingers had left around my wrist.
Michelle remained standing near the bassinet.
Evelyn looked down at Noah and touched one finger beneath his ear.
“Andrew’s was darker,” she said.
Michelle’s face tightened.
“Birthmarks don’t prove paternity.”
“I know.”
“Then stop looking at him like that.”
Evelyn raised her eyes.
“Like what?”
May you like
“Like you’ve already decided who he is.”
The accusation landed.
