Chapter 6 - OUT THROUGH THE SERVICE ELEVATOR
We left the maternity floor through a service elevator.
Nurse Collins wrapped my daughter in a plain hospital blanket and covered the bassinet identification card.
Luka pushed me in a wheelchair despite my protests.
“You can barely stand.”
“I can stand.”
“You almost fell five minutes ago.”
“I’m angry.”
“Anger doesn’t replace blood volume.”
Even terrified, I almost laughed.
Ethan tried to follow us.
Luka blocked him.
“You’re staying.”
Ethan stared at me.
“Ava, please.”
I had waited years to hear my husband say please.
Now the word meant nothing.
“You knew.”
“I made a mistake.”
“You made hundreds of choices.”
“Ava.”
“You lied about being infertile.”
“You authorized a donor without my consent.”
“You let me believe our daughter was biologically yours.”
“And then you walked away from her.”
I looked him directly in the eyes.
“You don’t get to call one decision a mistake when it required years of lies.”
The elevator doors closed between us.
For the first time, Ethan looked scared of losing me.
It was too late.
We reached the underground garage.
A black SUV waited near the service entrance.
Luka opened the rear door.
Inside was a woman in a charcoal suit.
She held up her hands when she saw my expression.
“Rachel Sloan.”
“Attorney.”
“Mr. Moretti retained me regarding Saint Vincent and the M-17 investigation.”
I looked at Luka.
“You have an attorney waiting in the garage?”
“I expected trouble.”
“You expected me?”
His eyes met mine.
“Yes.”
Rachel opened a folder.
“Ava, I need to tell you something before we move.”
“Your father contacted my firm seven years ago.”
“The night before he died.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“He gave instructions regarding a sealed file.”
“He said the file could only be released under two conditions.”
I could barely speak.
“What conditions?”
“If you underwent assisted reproduction at a Hale-owned clinic.”
Rachel swallowed.
“And if a child was born.”
My daughter slept against me.
I suddenly understood why my father had been afraid.
He had predicted this.
“How could he know?”
Rachel looked toward Luka.
“Because he knew what they were doing.”
Luka closed the SUV door.
The driver pulled away.
I looked back at the hospital through the dark glass.
Three men were running out of the service entrance.
One of them was Dr. Pike.
Another was hospital security.
The third man was someone I recognized.
Victor Hale.
Vanessa’s father.
Chairman of the hospital board.
He stood beneath the parking garage lights watching our SUV disappear.
Then my phone vibrated.
A message appeared from Ethan.
DON’T OPEN YOUR FATHER’S BOX.
My hands went cold.
A second message arrived.
IF YOU DO, YOU’LL FIND OUT WHO HER FATHER REALLY IS.
I slowly raised my eyes toward Luka.
He had already seen my expression.
“What did Ethan say?”
I handed him the phone.
He read the message.
Then he looked out the window.
“He knows.”
“Knows what?”
Luka’s jaw tightened.
May you like
“That M-17 wasn’t just a file number.”
“It was mine.”
