Chapter 3 - The Baby Started Thriving, but Someone Wanted Me Out of Leo Mercer's HouseFor the next week, Lily improved dramatically.
She smiled.
She slept.
Her weight increased.
The doctors were impressed.
One said:
“She hasn't shown this much stability since birth.”
Leo looked at me.
I smiled.
“She's just eating.”
Dr. Patel shook his head.
“It's more than that.”
“What?”
“We've run tests.”
He handed me a report.
Lily's digestive markers had improved.
Inflammation decreased.
Her immune response was stabilizing.
Breast milk had helped.
But something else appeared.
A rare genetic marker.
Dr. Patel explained that Lily had inherited a condition from her mother.
“What condition?”
“An immune disorder.”
“Is it serious?”
“Potentially.”
Leo looked shaken.
“Why weren't we told?”
“The original records were incomplete.”
I frowned.
“Incomplete?”
Dr. Patel nodded.
“Someone removed portions of the file.”
Leo's expression became cold.
“Who had access?”
“Four doctors.”
“Names.”
He listed them.
One was dead.
One retired.
One disappeared.
The fourth was still working for Leo.
Dr. Samuel Reed.
Leo called him.
No answer.
“Find him.”
Security moved.
That night, Lily slept in my room.
I sat beside her crib.
Leo entered.
“She likes you.”
“She likes food.”
He smiled.
“Maybe.”
He sat.
“You had children.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me about them.”
I hesitated.
Nobody had asked.
“My daughter was eight.”
“And your son?”
“Six.”
“What happened?”
I looked away.
“My husband took them.”
Leo froze.
“Why?”
“He claimed I was unstable.”
“That isn't enough.”
“It was to the court.”
I swallowed.
“He had money.”
Leo's jaw tightened.
“They were taken from you?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
He stared.
“That's why you were producing milk.”
“Yes.”
“My body didn't get the message that my children were gone.”
Silence.
Leo looked down.
“That must have been unbearable.”
“It was.”
He reached toward me.
Stopped.
Then said:
“You don't deserve what happened.”
I laughed quietly.
“Neither does Lily.”
“No.”
He looked at the crib.
“She deserves everything.”
We sat in silence.
Then he asked:
“Do you still love your husband?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because he made me choose between being a mother and being safe.”
Leo looked at me.
“And?”
“I chose my children.”
“But lost them.”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“I understand.”
“Do you?”
“I would destroy everything to keep Lily safe.”
I believed him.
The next morning, Dr. Reed disappeared.
His office was empty.
His house had been abandoned.
The security footage showed him entering the medical wing at 2:13 a.m.
He never left.
We searched.
Nothing.
Except a hidden drive.
The drive contained Lily's medical records.
And my name.
I stared.
“Why am I here?”
Leo opened the file.
There was information about my blood.
My medical history.
My pregnancies.
My children's births.
Everything.
Someone had been studying me.
“Why?”
The final page had one phrase:
MATERNAL IMMUNE RESPONSE — SIGNIFICANT.
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Leo looked at the doctor.
Dr. Patel swallowed.
“Your milk may contain antibodies Lily needs.”
I looked at Lily.
“That's why she improved?”
“Possibly.”
“But why me?”
Dr. Patel hesitated.
“Because your immune profile is unusually compatible with hers.”
Leo stared at me.
Someone had known this.
Before we met.
Someone had selected me.
The seat assignment.
The flight.
The baby.
It had all been arranged.
I felt sick.
“Who planned this?”
Leo's phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“Where?”
Pause.
“When?”
He hung up.
“What?”
“My security chief found something.”
“What?”
“A van.”
“Where?”
“Your old apartment.”
“What's inside?”
He looked at me.
“Blood.”
My heart stopped.
May you like
“Whose?”
“Yours.”
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