Chương 4
Ethan taking late calls on the balcony.
His mother attending obstetric appointments Rachel had not invited her to.
Vanessa appearing at a foundation fundraiser in October, visibly pregnant beneath a loose black dress.
Margaret telling Rachel, casually, that Vanessa had married “somebody in consulting.”
Rachel had never asked his name.
Why would she?
Ethan had become strangely attentive in the final trimester. Too attentive, maybe. He kept asking which hospital Rachel preferred. Which obstetrician would deliver. Whether she had signed consent forms. Whether newborns could remain in the nursery.
At the time she thought he was nervous.
Maybe he had been.
Just not for the reason she believed.
“Vanessa was pregnant,” Rachel said.
Dana waited.
“At the same time.”
“Vanessa Cole?”
Rachel nodded.
“The woman police detained?”
“Yes.”
Dana looked down.
“And where is her baby?”
Rachel’s mouth went dry.
She turned toward the bassinets.
Two boys.
Rachel had delivered twins.
That was what everyone believed.
That was what Rachel believed.
Until now.
She felt something inside her pull away from the thought.
“No.”
Dana leaned forward.
“What are you thinking?”
Rachel’s voice came out thin.
“My pregnancy was twins.”
“Okay.”
“I saw them on ultrasound.”
“All right.”
“I heard both heartbeats.”
Dana nodded.
Rachel gripped the blanket.
“They are both mine.”
“Nothing you’ve told me suggests otherwise.”
“But if Vanessa—”
She stopped.
Dana waited.
Rachel could not finish.
At 12:47 p.m., Dr. Asha Patel entered the room.
She was the maternal-fetal medicine specialist who had followed Rachel through the final twelve weeks because one fetus had shown intermittent growth restriction.
Dr. Patel closed the door.
“I heard there was an eventful morning.”
Rachel looked at her.
“That’s one word for it.”
Dr. Patel pulled a chair closer.
“I received your voicemail.”
“I don’t remember leaving one.”
“You called at six twelve this morning.”
Rachel rubbed her forehead.
Right.
Before the police arrived.
Before Margaret.
Before Vanessa.
She had called Dr. Patel because the DNA result made no sense.
“I need you to tell me something.”
“I’ll tell you what I can.”
“Could one of my babies not be biologically mine?”
Dr. Patel did not answer immediately.
Rachel’s stomach dropped.
“That pause is terrible.”
“It’s a complicated question.”
“Make it uncomplicated.”
Dr. Patel folded her hands.
“You delivered two babies. Both babies were inside your uterus. Both were monitored throughout the pregnancy. There is no question about that.”
“That is not what I asked.”
“No.”
Dr. Patel’s eyes stayed on Rachel’s.
“Biologically, there are rare circumstances in assisted reproduction where an embryo transfer error can occur.”
Rachel stared at her.
“We didn’t use IVF.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you saying that?”
“Because you asked what is possible.”
Rachel tightened her jaw.
Dr. Patel continued.
“There are also extremely rare situations involving superfecundation—twins conceived in the same cycle by different fathers.”
Rachel felt the blood drain from her face.
“Different fathers.”
“It can occur when two eggs are released and fertilized by sperm from different men during the same ovulatory window.”
Rachel stared.
Dr. Patel’s expression changed slightly.
“Rachel?”
She looked toward the bassinets.
One matched Ethan.
One did not.
The room felt airless.
“I didn’t sleep with another man.”
Dr. Patel’s eyes softened.
“I’m not accusing you.”
“I didn’t.”
“I believe you.”
“Then it’s impossible.”
“I said rare, not impossible.”
“No.”
Rachel pressed both hands into the bed.
“No. I would know if I had sex with someone.”
Dr. Patel leaned forward.
“Rachel, I need to ask something difficult.”
Rachel already hated the question.
“During the likely conception window, is there any period you do not remember clearly?”
Rachel stared at her.
A memory moved at the edge of consciousness.
A hotel.
Music.
A glass of champagne.
Her anniversary.
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Dr. Patel waited.
Rachel looked down.
“Ethan and I went to Napa.”
“When?”
“June.”
The twins had been conceived in June.
Rachel’s hands went cold.
“We went for our anniversary. Margaret was there.”
Dr. Patel’s eyebrows lifted.
“Your mother-in-law went on your anniversary trip?”
“Not originally.”
The memory sharpened.
Margaret had arrived the second evening with Vanessa and two Bennett Foundation donors because, she claimed, a last-minute business dinner had been moved to the same resort.
Rachel had been furious.
Ethan apologized.
They fought.
Later, Rachel drank more than usual at the hotel bar.
Not dangerously more.
Two glasses of wine.
Maybe three.
Then—
Nothing.
Not nothing.
A headache.
Waking in the suite.
Ethan asleep in an armchair instead of the bed.
Rachel wearing a hotel robe.
Her dress folded over the chair.
She had assumed Ethan helped her undress.
She remembered asking him.
You really don’t remember?
He had smiled.
You were exhausted.
Her stomach turned.
Dr. Patel said her name.
Rachel looked up.
“I need the full DNA test.”
“Maternal as well as paternal?”
“Yes.”
“Rachel—”
“Both babies. Me. Ethan. Everything.”
“I can help arrange proper testing.”
“And Vanessa.”
Dr. Patel paused.
“You cannot compel another adult’s DNA sample without consent or legal process.”
“I know.”
The answer surprised Rachel with how calm it sounded.
She reached for her phone.
“Then I’ll find another way.”
The hospital attorney advised Rachel not to remove the babies’ identification bands.
The family attorney Rachel called advised her not to speak to the Bennetts without representation.
The criminal attorney referred by Dana advised her not to discuss the slap with anyone except police or counsel.
By two in the afternoon, Rachel had acquired three attorneys and still had not eaten her sandwich.
Marisol stood beside the tray.
“If you don’t eat, I’m calling a fourth lawyer.”
Rachel looked at the turkey sandwich.
“Can the fourth lawyer eat it?”
“No.”
“Then I don’t see the value.”
Marisol pushed the tray closer.
Rachel ate half.
It tasted like refrigerated cardboard.
At 2:38, Daniel arrived.
Her brother entered wearing jeans, a wrinkled blue button-down, and the expression of a man prepared to commit several felonies before dinner.
He stopped beside the bed.
May you like
Rachel looked at him.
Daniel looked at the bruise.
