Chương 5
Dana turned to her.
“I am not minimizing what may have happened.”
“That sounds exactly like minimizing.”
“No. It sounds like a lawyer refusing to promise you an outcome before she has facts.”
Mara opened her mouth.
Emily touched her arm.
This time Mara stopped.
Dana continued.
“We need the filed adoption petition, the surrender or consent documents, medical records, agency communications, payment records and whoever notarized the paperwork. We need to establish whether signatures were forged, coerced, altered or obtained when Emily lacked capacity. We need to know whether the Vales’ adoption decree is valid, voidable or was obtained through fraud.”
Claire had returned without the children.
Alexander had not heard her enter.
She stood in the doorway.
“What happens to Ava while you figure that out?”
Everyone looked at her.
Dana’s voice softened.
“I don’t know yet.”
Claire nodded once.
“Good.”
Dana frowned.
“Good?”
“At least you didn’t lie.”
She sat beside Alexander.
He reached for her hand.
She did not give it to him.
He pulled his hand back.
That hurt too.
“How are the kids?” he asked.
“Asleep. Sort of.”
“Ava?”
“With the nanny.”
Emily looked down.
Claire saw.
Her face tightened.
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize for taking care of her.”
“I’m apologizing for saying nanny.”
Emily gave a tired little shake of her head.
“I know what a nanny is.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know.”
They both looked away.
Alexander saw how impossible this was.
Two women loved the same child for entirely different reasons, and neither had created the situation.
Yet both were going to pay for it.
Gregory watched them with obvious frustration.
“You are all behaving as though the accusation has been proven.”
Claire turned.
“Did you pay two hundred fifty thousand dollars?”
Gregory said nothing.
She waited.
He looked at Alexander instead.
“Your wife should go upstairs.”
Claire stood.
“Say it again.”
Gregory blinked.
“Claire.”
“Tell me where I should go.”
“Don’t be childish.”
Her face changed.
Alexander almost warned him.
Too late.
Claire crossed the room and put both hands on the table.
“I held two dead pregnancies inside my body while you told your son not to let grief make him weak.”
Gregory’s attorney looked down.
Claire’s voice stayed level.
“I sat through four years of strangers asking whether I had resolved my feelings about infertility enough to deserve somebody else’s baby. I let caseworkers open our closets. I let doctors discuss my mental health. I let agencies inspect our bank accounts even though your family’s name is printed on half the buildings they work in. I did everything they asked because I wanted one thing in my life that money could not purchase.”
Gregory’s face had gone gray.
Claire swallowed.
“If you bought her for us, you did not give me a daughter.”
She pointed toward Emily.
“You made me part of what was done to her.”
Gregory whispered, “I was trying to help you.”
There it was.
Not a confession.
Not exactly.
But everyone heard it.
Alexander sat very still.
Claire’s eyes filled.
She did not cry.
“What did you do?”
Gregory looked away.
Alexander felt something cold settle beneath his ribs.
“Dad.”
Gregory rubbed his mouth.
For the first time, he looked old.
“I solved a problem.”
Mara stood so quickly the chair legs scraped.
Marcus moved closer but did not touch her.
Emily stared at Gregory.
“What problem?”
He did not answer.
She stepped forward.
“What problem?”
Gregory’s lawyer said, “Mr. Vale, I strongly advise—”
“Shut up, Richard.”
Richard shut up.
Gregory looked at Claire.
“You were falling apart.”
Alexander rose.
“Don’t.”
“You both were.”
“Don’t talk about us.”
“You had lost two pregnancies. The second nearly destroyed your marriage.”
Claire recoiled.
Alexander’s anger rose so fast he had to put both hands on the table.
“You don’t know anything about my marriage.”
“I watched you disappear into work.”
“That was my failure.”
“And I watched Claire stop coming to family dinners.”
Claire stared at him.
“I was recovering from surgery.”
“I know.”
“No. You don’t.”
Gregory’s voice hardened defensively.
“I knew what you needed.”
Emily made a sound.
A tiny laugh.
Everyone looked at her.
She covered her mouth.
“Sorry.”
It came again.
Not amusement.
Something uglier.
“You knew what they needed.”
Gregory looked at her.
Emily nodded slowly.
“And I was convenient.”
“No.”
“I was.”
“That is not what happened.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
Gregory glanced at Dana.
She said nothing.
Emily’s voice became quieter.
“Tell me.”
His shoulders lowered.
“Martin told me there was a child whose mother might not be able to care for her.”
Mara shook her head.
“No.”
“He said there were medical concerns.”
“No.”
“He said social services would likely become involved.”
“No.”
“He said a private adoption could spare everyone a great deal of—”
“Pain?” Emily asked.
Gregory stopped.
She smiled without humor.
“Was that the word?”
He looked away.
Alexander felt nauseated.
“How did Martin know we were trying to adopt?”
Gregory did not answer.
“Dad.”
“I told him.”
“When?”
“Months earlier.”
“Why?”
“Because nothing was happening.”
“It was happening.”
“You were waiting.”
“That’s what adoption is.”
“You were miserable.”
Alexander laughed once.
“You thought waiting was a market inefficiency.”
Gregory flinched.
Good.
Alexander hated himself for enjoying that.
Gregory continued.
“Martin contacted me when the situation arose.”
“What situation?”
“A newborn. A mother without stable support. No father involved. Limited finances.”
Mara’s hands curled.
“My sister was not merchandise you found below market value.”
“I never said she was.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Emily sat back down.
Her face had lost color.
Claire watched her.
“What happened after Gregory said yes?” Claire asked.
Gregory’s head snapped toward her.
Claire ignored him.
Emily stared at her tea.
Mara answered.
“Martin showed up at the hospital.”
Dana said, “We need to verify that sequence.”
“We will.”
Mara opened her phone and placed it on the table.
“I have emails.”
Dana leaned closer.
“From whom?”
“Martin.”
“To you?”
“No.”
May you like
“To Emily?”
“No.”
