Chapter 5 - WHAT ETHAN KNEW
The federal agents were real.
That was the first thing Dr. Sloan confirmed.
Their credentials checked out.
Their warrant checked out.
Their investigation did not.
At least not the way they described it.
They said Luka Moretti had illegally obtained biological material from Mercer Medical.
They claimed he had interfered with hospital records.
They claimed he had coerced me into allowing him to identify himself as my daughter’s father.
Every accusation turned the story upside down.
Luka was no longer the victim whose sample might have been stolen.
According to their paperwork, he was the thief.
I sat in a private conference room at the bank while Ava slept against me.
Two agents sat across from us.
Agent Helen Ortiz did most of the talking.
Her partner, Daniel Crowe, watched Luka.
“You understand why this looks concerning.”
Ortiz spoke to me gently.
I almost appreciated it.
Almost.
“What looks concerning?”
“A man you claim you met yesterday suddenly inserted himself into your child’s legal documentation.”
“I didn’t say I was comfortable with that.”
“Did he threaten you?”
“No.”
“Did he pressure you?”
“No.”
“Did he explain how he obtained confidential fertility records?”
I looked at Luka.
He said nothing.
Ortiz noticed.
“That’s what I thought.”
I frowned.
“What exactly are you investigating?”
“Potential trafficking of reproductive material.”
“By Mercer Medical?”
She paused.
“By multiple individuals.”
“Including Ethan?”
Her eyes flicked toward her notes.
“Your husband’s name is part of the investigation.”
“My husband signed an authorization for a donor sample without telling me.”
Ortiz looked at Crowe.
That surprised them.
I pulled out the copy.
“This one.”
Ortiz read it.
Her expression changed.
“Where did you get this?”
“Luka.”
She looked at him.
“Mr. Moretti, where did you obtain it?”
“From a private archive.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
“It answers enough.”
Crowe leaned forward.
“You are making this worse for yourself.”
Luka’s expression remained flat.
“My biological material was stolen.”
“That has not been established.”
“My storage code appears in Amelia’s procedure record.”
Ortiz looked at me.
“Do you have that record?”
Dr. Sloan placed a certified copy on the table.
“Yes.”
The agents read it.
Their entire posture changed.
Crowe whispered.
“Damn.”
Ortiz looked at Luka.
“You said this was removed from the live system?”
Dr. Sloan answered.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Approximately six months ago.”
“By who?”
“Administrative credentials belonging to Dr. Elias Mercer.”
The agents exchanged another look.
I saw it.
“You already knew.”
Ortiz leaned back.
“We knew Elias Mercer was connected to historic irregularities.”
“Historic?”
“My daughter was born yesterday.”
Her face tightened.
“You’re right.”
“So why are you treating Luka like the criminal?”
Crowe answered.
“Because evidence indicates Mr. Moretti accessed restricted systems illegally.”
Luka did not deny it.
I looked at him.
“You hacked the hospital?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I paid someone who did.”
I stared at him.
“That is not better.”
“I never said it was.”
Ortiz rubbed her temple.
“Mr. Moretti, you have made every attorney in this building very tired.”
“That’s not new.”
Despite myself, I almost smiled.
Then the door opened.
The bank manager entered.
“There’s an attorney outside.”
“For who?”
“He says Mrs. Mercer.”
I looked at Luka.
“I don’t have an attorney.”
The manager handed me a card.
JONATHAN PRICE — PRICE, COLE & MERRITT.
I recognized the firm.
Ethan’s family used them.
“Send him away.”
The manager nodded.
Then he hesitated.
“He says your husband is prepared to make a sworn statement.”
I froze.
“About what?”
“He wouldn’t say.”
Luka’s expression darkened.
Ortiz looked interested.
“Let him in.”
I turned toward her.
“This isn’t your meeting.”
“No.”
“But if your husband wants to make a sworn statement related to this investigation, I’d like to hear it.”
I hated that she was right.
Jonathan Price entered ten minutes later.
Perfect suit.
Perfect hair.
Perfect smile.
He carried a leather folder.
“Amelia.”
“Don’t call me that like we’re friends.”
His smile weakened.
“Mrs. Mercer.”
“That’s not much better.”
He sat.
“Ethan asked me to convey an offer.”
Luka actually laughed.
Price looked at him.
“I don’t believe we’ve met.”
“We haven’t.”
“Then I’d appreciate it if you didn’t interrupt.”
“No.”
Price turned back to me.
“Your husband is willing to ensure you and the child are financially secure.”
“The child.”
I repeated it.
“He doesn’t call her his daughter anymore?”
Price paused.
“That’s part of what we need to discuss.”
My throat tightened.
“Go on.”
“Ethan will transfer the apartment on West Seventy-Second Street into your name.”
“He’ll establish a five-million-dollar trust for the baby.”
“And he’ll waive any claim to your joint investment accounts.”
Luka’s expression turned cold.
Price continued.
“In exchange, you agree not to pursue private genetic testing involving Mr. Mercer, Mr. Moretti, or the child.”
The room went silent.
I stared at him.
“You’re offering me money not to find out who my daughter’s father is.”
Price kept his voice smooth.
“I’m offering you stability.”
“No.”
“Mrs. Mercer.”
“No.”
“Please consider your daughter.”
I stood.
“Do not use her against me.”
“I’m not.”
“You’re sitting in front of me offering five million dollars to keep her identity buried.”
“That is not what I said.”
“It’s exactly what you said.”
Ortiz leaned forward.
“Mr. Price, is this offer in writing?”
His expression shifted.
“I’m here in a private capacity.”
“Then you won’t mind if I document the terms you just stated.”
He closed the folder.
“I think this meeting is over.”
Luka stepped away from the wall.
“Not yet.”
Price looked at him.
“What?”
Luka placed Ethan’s transfer authorization on the table.
“Ask your client why he signed this.”
Price did not look down.
That told me he had already seen it.
“You know.”
I whispered.
He said nothing.
“You know what Ethan did.”
“Mrs. Mercer, I represent your husband.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No.”
“It’s not.”
I stared at him.
“What else does he know?”
Price stood.
“I strongly suggest you take the offer.”
“Why?”
He looked at Luka.
Then at the agents.
Then at me.
“Because if the full genetic record becomes public, Ethan will not be the only person who loses something.”
My skin chilled.
“Who else?”
Price’s gaze dropped to Ava.
My arms tightened.
“What does that mean?”
He picked up his folder.
“Ask Dr. Mercer.”
Then he walked out.
I was shaking.
Luka immediately turned toward Ortiz.
“Where is Elias?”
She hesitated.
“We don’t know.”
“What?”
“He failed to report to an interview this morning.”
Crowe checked his phone.
“His passport was used at a private terminal two hours ago.”
“To leave the country?”
“No aircraft departed under his name.”
“So where is he?”
“We don’t know.”
I thought of Celeste’s black access badge.
“Find Celeste Ward.”
Ortiz looked at me.
“Why?”
“Because she said Elias arranged hospital access for her.”
Crowe typed her name.
He frowned.
“What?”
“There is no Celeste Ward employed by Mercer Medical.”
“She wasn’t an employee.”
He kept searching.
“No professional license.”
“No registered home address under that name.”
I stared.
“What are you saying?”
Ortiz answered.
“Celeste Ward may not exist.”
My mind flashed back to every dinner Ethan skipped.
Every late-night message.
Every photograph I had seen.
Celeste laughing beside him at a hotel bar.
Celeste touching his shoulder at a charity gala.
Celeste standing outside my hospital room.
If that was not her name, who was she?
My phone vibrated.
Ethan.
I stared at the screen.
Luka looked at me.
“Answer it.”
I did.
“What?”
Ethan sounded exhausted.
“Are you alone?”
“No.”
“Get away from Moretti.”
“No.”
“Amelia, you don’t understand.”
“I understand you’re sterile.”
Silence.
I continued.
“I understand you signed paperwork authorizing a donor sample.”
He breathed out slowly.
“Who showed you that?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Luka is not telling you everything.”
“Neither are you.”
“I’m trying to protect you.”
I laughed.
“You left me at the hospital.”
“I left because Celeste told me my father had people watching the maternity floor.”
That stopped me.
“What?”
“I thought if I stayed with you, he would know I was turning against him.”
Luka moved closer to hear.
I put the call on speaker.
Ethan cursed.
“Take me off speaker.”
“No.”
“Amelia.”
“Talk.”
He was silent.
Then he said.
“I knew I couldn’t have children.”
“How long?”
“Since I was twenty.”
“So you lied to me for six years.”
“Yes.”
The word hurt more than I expected.
“Did you know Luka’s sample was used?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
My eyes closed.
“Why?”
“My father told me it was the only way.”
“For what?”
“To satisfy the trust.”
There it was.
Even knowing it was coming did not soften it.
“You used my body to secure an inheritance.”
“No.”
“That is exactly what you did.”
“I loved you.”
“Do not say that.”
“I did.”
“You let doctors put another man’s sperm inside me without my consent.”
His breathing changed.
“I thought it was a registered donor.”
“Liar.”
“I knew the code.”
“But I didn’t know who M-17 belonged to until later.”
Luka’s eyes narrowed.
“When did you learn?”
Ethan heard him.
“Go to hell.”
“When?”
“Two months into the pregnancy.”
Luka stepped closer to the phone.
“And when did you learn your biological father was Dominic Moretti?”
Silence.
I felt my heart pound.
“Ethan?”
He whispered.
“I was nineteen.”
Luka closed his eyes.
It was true.
My husband and Luka were brothers.
Not legally.
Not emotionally.
But biologically.
Ethan continued.
“My father told me Dominic was a donor.”
“Without consent?”
“I didn’t know that part.”
“Did you know Luka existed?”
“Yes.”
Luka’s jaw tightened.
“All these years?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever meet my father?”
Another pause.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“The night Thomas Hayes died.”
My skin went cold.
I gripped the phone.
“Tell me what happened.”
“Not over the phone.”
“Tell me.”
“Amelia.”
“My father died that night.”
“I know.”
“Were you there?”
“Yes.”
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
The answer was immediate.
I believed the fear.
Not necessarily the innocence.
“What happened?”
“My father followed me.”
“Elias?”
“Yes.”
“Dominic was already there.”
“Thomas had the folder.”
“Elias wanted it.”
“What did you do?”
Ethan’s voice dropped.
“I froze.”
My throat tightened.
“What happened to my father?”
“He ran.”
“Then?”
“A car followed him.”
“What car?”
“Black sedan.”
“Who was driving?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Elias send it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
A long silence followed.
Then Ethan said something unexpected.
“I’m sorry.”
My anger flared.
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“I know.”
“Why did you abandon us?”
He was silent.
I whispered.
“Tell me the truth.”
“I panicked.”
“Because of Luka?”
“Because Ava was born with a mark.”
I looked at my daughter instinctively.
“What mark?”
“The nurse sent a picture to my father.”
“What?”
“Elias asked for delivery photos.”
Rage shot through me.
“What mark?”
“Behind her left ear.”
I carefully moved Ava’s dark hair.
There was a tiny crescent-shaped birthmark.
Barely visible.
I had seen it.
I thought nothing of it.
Luka came closer.
His face changed when he saw it.
“No.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
He touched the skin behind his own left ear.
Under the edge of a tattoo.
A faint crescent-shaped mark.
My breath stopped.
Ethan spoke through the phone.
“Dominic had the same mark.”
Luka lowered his hand.
My daughter had a Moretti family trait.
Not proof.
But enough to terrify Ethan.
“Is that why you left?”
“I knew if my father saw it, he would know the substitution had worked too well.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“Stop saying that.”
“I’m telling you the truth.”
Then his voice dropped to a whisper.
“Amelia, the inheritance wasn’t the only reason they used Luka’s sample.”
My skin went cold.
“What other reason?”
Ethan inhaled.
“My father needed a child with Dominic Moretti’s blood.”
Luka stared at the phone.
“For what?”
Ethan answered.
“To unlock something Dominic left behind.”
The call cut off.
I stared at the screen.
Then Luka’s phone buzzed.
A message.
He read it once.
Then again.
His face changed completely.
“What?”
He turned the screen toward me.
It was from his father’s former attorney.
SEALED INSTRUCTION LOCATED.
OPENING AUTHORIZED.
Then a second message appeared.
LUKA, YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS BEFORE ANYONE TESTS THE BABY.
May you like
And suddenly the question was no longer simply who fathered Ava.
It was why someone had needed her to exist in the first place.
