Chapter 17 - THE LAST DNA ENVELOPE
I stared at my father.
“That’s impossible.”
“I never cheated.”
“I know.”
“Then Ryan is her father.”
My father shook his head.
“Open the envelope.”
I didn’t.
My hands would not move.
Luka looked as confused as I felt.
My father continued.
“Grace was conceived naturally.”
“Then how—”
“Ryan is infertile.”
The room went silent.
“No.”
“He had testing done two years ago through Helix.”
My mind raced.
“We were trying for a baby.”
“He told me his tests were normal.”
“They weren’t.”
I felt sick.
“How did I get pregnant?”
My father looked toward the window.
“Helix used your fertility appointments to introduce donor material.”
The room tilted.
“What?”
I stood.
“No.”
“I never had IVF.”
“You had an intrauterine procedure after what you believed was a cervical examination.”
My mouth went dry.
I remembered.
Dr. Reed’s office.
A procedure Ryan insisted was routine.
Pain afterward.
A nurse telling me spotting was normal.
I looked at my father.
“Samuel did that?”
“No.”
“He discovered it later.”
“Another physician did it.”
“Who was the donor?”
My father looked at the sealed envelope.
I suddenly understood Ryan’s terror.
He had known.
Maybe not from the beginning.
But recently.
“Who?”
I asked again.
My father’s voice became quiet.
“Helix used preserved donor material from Gabriel Moretti.”
Luka went completely still.
“My uncle?”
“Yes.”
My stomach turned.
“But Gabriel’s material was used in my embryo.”
“Some of it.”
“You’re telling me Grace’s biological father is genetically connected to the same donor used in me?”
My father nodded.
Helix had tried to recreate the conditions of M-17.
Not just observe my daughter.
Create her.
I felt violated in a way I could not describe.
Grace had been wanted.
Loved.
But the method had been stolen from me.
My father quickly added.
“Grace is genetically healthy.”
“There is no prohibited degree of relatedness in the way you’re imagining.”
“The material used in your original treatment was limited and technical.”
“But ethically, what they did to you is monstrous.”
I stared at the unopened envelope.
“Did Ryan know?”
“Not until three weeks ago.”
“That’s why he left.”
My father nodded.
“Helix told him Grace wasn’t his.”
“And instead of telling me, he walked away.”
“Yes.”
Anger replaced shock.
I took the envelope.
Then stopped.
“I don’t need this.”
My father frowned.
“Elena.”
“I don’t need a percentage to know she’s my daughter.”
I handed it back.
“If Grace ever wants the full truth when she’s old enough, she can have it.”
“But I’m not letting Helix define her by a lab result.”
Luka nodded slowly.
“That’s your choice.”
Then the door opened.
Ryan stood there.
He must have followed us.
His face was pale.
He saw the envelope in my father’s hand.
“Don’t open it.”
I stared at him.
“You knew.”
His eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I panicked.”
“You abandoned us.”
“I thought every time I looked at Grace I would remember what they did.”
My anger sharpened.
“What they did to you?”
He flinched.
“You were violated too.”
“I know.”
“But you still made it about yourself.”
He looked at the floor.
“Yes.”
I walked toward him.
“You don’t get to beg me not to open an envelope because you’re afraid of what it says.”
“I know.”
“You don’t get to decide whether Grace matters based on DNA.”
“I know.”
I held out my hand.
My father gave me the envelope.
Ryan whispered.
“Elena, please.”
There it was.
The moment promised from the beginning.
My ex-husband standing in front of me.
Begging me not to open the last DNA envelope.
I tore it in half.
Without reading it.
Ryan stared at me.
I tore it again.
Then dropped the pieces into the trash.
“Grace already has a mother.”
“And until she decides otherwise, that is the only line on any piece of paper that matters to me.”
Luka looked toward the birth certificate folder on the table.
His name was still on the father line.
I turned to him.
“We’re fixing that too.”
He nodded.
“I expected we would.”
For the first time in days, I almost smiled.
Then the hospital alarm began screaming.
Luka’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed instantly.
“Cross escaped federal custody.”
My father stood.
Luka listened.
May you like
Then looked at me.
“She’s coming here.”
