Chapter 8 - The Surrogate’s Secret
Mara isolated the sound from Avery’s call.
Three church bells rang in a repeating pattern.
A train horn sounded eleven seconds later.
Water moved somewhere nearby.
They searched churches near active rail lines and rivers within driving distance of Manhattan.
The list contained twenty-seven locations.
Gabriel narrowed it using the bell sequence.
“Those are not church bells.”
“What are they?” Sebastian asked.
“A private clock tower.”
He showed them a photograph of an abandoned Thorne estate near Cold Spring.
The property stood above the Hudson River.
Railroad tracks ran beneath the eastern wall.
Alexander Thorne had used the estate for private meetings before transferring it to a shell company.
“The tower rings every quarter hour,” Gabriel said.
“Miles grew up there.”
Sebastian remembered visiting the house as a child.
His father had forbidden him from entering the lower wing.
Miles had spent entire summers there.
Mara contacted the detective in Westchester.
A tactical team began moving toward the estate.
Khloe wanted to go.
Dr. Alan Reed, the physician assigned after Dr. Shaw’s disappearance, refused.
“You have a placental abruption.”
“It is small.”
“It can become fatal without warning.”
“My friend is being held with children created from my body.”
“And your daughter is alive because you are lying still.”
Khloe hated him for being correct.
Sebastian prepared to leave with Mara.
Before he reached the door, Khloe called his name.
He turned.
“Bring Avery back.”
“I will.”
“Do not promise me something you cannot control.”
Sebastian approached the bed.
“Then I promise I will not stop until I find her.”
Khloe saw the man she had married beneath the guilt and confusion.
She also saw every moment he had failed her.
Both truths existed together.
“Be careful.”
He nodded once.
Then he left.
Gabriel remained in the room with two trusted guards.
Khloe searched Avery’s archived messages.
For months, Avery had complained of nausea, fatigue, and mysterious medical appointments.
She had claimed she was caring for an ill aunt.
Khloe had been so consumed by her own pregnancy and collapsing marriage that she had never questioned it.
A message from five months earlier caught her attention.
Avery had written, Dr. Shaw says the treatment finally worked.
Khloe had replied with a heart emoji, assuming Avery was discussing migraines.
The guilt settled heavily over her.
Gabriel watched her.
“You did not cause this.”
“You barely know me.”
“I know how your mother blamed herself for every person Alexander harmed.”
“She left me surrounded by his family.”
“She believed marrying Sebastian might end the war.”
“Did she arrange our marriage too?”
“No.”
Gabriel paused.
“But she predicted it.”
Khloe looked up.
“How?”
“Eleanor believed Alexander’s greatest weakness was his need to control bloodlines.”
“She thought his children would eventually be drawn toward hers.”
“That sounds like superstition.”
“It was mathematics.”
Gabriel placed an old notebook beside her.
Eleanor had mapped relationships, company structures, genetic claims, and trust provisions.
Sebastian’s name appeared beside Khloe’s years before they met.
“He was selected?”
“He was identified as the only Thorne descendant who had not participated in Alexander’s illegal programs.”
Khloe thought of Sebastian allowing Isabella’s lies to poison their marriage.
“He participated through ignorance.”
“Eleanor believed ignorance could be corrected.”
“And betrayal?”
Gabriel did not answer.
A breaking-news alert appeared.
Federal agents had entered Thorne Meridian’s headquarters.
The report claimed Sebastian had diverted charitable funds into private accounts controlled by Khloe.
Her name appeared beside allegations of fraud, bribery, and illegal medical research.
Miles stepped before cameras as interim chairman.
He expressed sorrow.
He promised transparency.
He announced that Rossi International would assist in stabilizing the hospital network.
“He is using us to hide his crimes,” Khloe said.
Gabriel nodded.
“Every stolen embryo, illegal test, and hidden payment will be attributed to you.”
The door opened.
Celia entered under guard.
Her silver gown had been replaced by a dark suit.
She carried no purse.
Her expression remained controlled.
“I need to speak with Khloe alone.”
Gabriel laughed.
“That will not happen.”
Celia looked at him.
“I wondered when Eleanor’s little brother would crawl out of hiding.”
“You always preferred men who stayed buried.”
Celia’s face tightened.
Khloe raised a hand.
“Why are you here?”
“To keep you alive.”
“You helped Isabella attack me.”
“I helped her frighten you.”
“She kicked me.”
“That was not the plan.”
Khloe stared at her.
“What was the plan?”
Celia looked toward the guards.
Khloe dismissed them only into the corridor.
Gabriel stayed.
Celia spoke quietly.
“Isabella was supposed to confront you about the trust.”
“I did not know about the trust.”
“She was told you did.”
“By Miles?”
“Yes.”
“You voted to make him chairman.”
“Because refusing would have exposed what he has on Sebastian.”
“What does he have?”
“Proof that Sebastian approved the genetic procedure performed on you.”
Khloe’s chest tightened.
Sebastian had admitted signing consent forms.
Celia continued.
“Miles altered the forms after the procedure.”
“So why protect him?”
“Because the original forms would still destroy Sebastian publicly.”
“Public embarrassment is not worse than murder.”
“You do not understand what Miles controls.”
“Then explain it.”
Celia looked toward the fetal monitor.
“He controls every genetic record collected by Thorne Meridian for twenty-three years.”
“Millions of patients.”
“Yes.”
“He can expose them.”
“He can alter them.”
Gabriel’s expression changed.
“Parentage records.”
“Inheritance disputes.”
“Criminal databases.”
Celia nodded.
“He can rewrite bloodlines.”
Khloe thought of the stolen embryos.
“Why must one twin die?”
Celia’s composure cracked.
“I do not know.”
“Do not lie.”
“I am not lying.”
“Then why did Avery say it?”
“Because Miles discovered the twins are not identical.”
Gabriel leaned forward.
“What does that matter?”
“One embryo belongs to Khloe and Sebastian.”
Celia’s voice dropped.
“The other does not.”
Khloe’s fingers tightened around the blanket.
“Whose child is it?”
Celia looked at Gabriel.
“Eleanor’s.”
The room went silent.
“That is impossible,” Khloe said.
“My mother has been dead six years.”
“Eleanor froze genetic material during the original research program.”
Gabriel stood abruptly.
“She ordered every sample destroyed.”
“Alexander kept one.”
Khloe struggled to understand.
The second embryo had been created from her mother’s egg.
“Who is the father?”
Celia’s eyes filled with something close to shame.
“Alexander.”
Sebastian’s father.
Khloe felt nauseated.
The unborn twin would be the biological child of Eleanor Vale and Alexander Thorne.
The original partners’ direct heir.
A child genetically positioned above everyone else.
“That baby would inherit the entire trust,” Gabriel said.
Celia nodded.
“Miles needs the child born long enough to verify the claim.”
“Then why kill one twin?”
“Because Avery does not know which fetus carries which genetic profile.”
Khloe’s hand moved protectively over her own daughter.
Miles intended to wait until delivery.
He would test both babies.
He would keep the child who gave him control and eliminate the other witness to the illegal procedure.
Celia stepped closer.
“You must renounce the trust before the twins are born.”
“No.”
“Then Miles will kill every child involved.”
“Why are you suddenly helping me?”
Celia looked older than she had at the gala.
“Because Miles is no longer following the agreement.”
“What agreement?”
“To remove you without harming Sebastian.”
Khloe stared at her.
“You helped plan my disappearance.”
“I planned a divorce.”
“You planned to take my daughter.”
Celia said nothing.
A call came from Mara.
Khloe answered on speaker.
“We reached the Cold Spring estate.”
“Is Avery there?”
“The house is empty.”
Khloe’s hope collapsed.
Mara continued.
“We found evidence that she was held here.”
“What evidence?”
“Medication, restraints, and blood.”
Sebastian spoke in the background.
“There is something else.”
The camera feed showed a wall covered with photographs.
Khloe’s face appeared in hundreds of them.
Images from childhood.
College.
Her wedding.
Medical appointments.
Sleeping in her own bedroom.
At the center was a recent photograph of Khloe’s unborn daughter’s ultrasound.
Beneath it, Miles had written a date.
FRIDAY, 11:42 P.M.
Celia saw it.
All color left her face.
“What does that time mean?” Khloe asked.
Celia backed toward the door.
“It is the time Alexander died.”
Gabriel grabbed her arm.
“That was not the question.”
May you like
Celia looked at Khloe.
“It is also the time your mother’s heart stopped.”
