Chapter 3 - The Mother Who Stole More Than My Marriage
Alex spent the night reading every document he could find.
The fertility agreement was missing.
His old lawyer had no complete copy.
Elena had no complete copy.
The clinic had been acquired years earlier.
Records were fragmented.
But one name appeared repeatedly.
Dr. Malcolm Reeves.
The specialist who had originally told Elena her chances were low.
Alex found him retired in Vermont.
He drove there before dawn.
The old doctor agreed to meet him.
“I remember you.”
Alex sat opposite him.
“You told me my wife couldn't have children.”
“I told you pregnancy would be difficult.”
“You said the numbers were poor.”
“They were.”
“You never said impossible.”
Reeves looked down.
“No.”
“Then why did my mother tell me otherwise?”
The doctor became silent.
“What did she pay you?”
His eyes lifted.
“She didn't.”
“Then what?”
“Your mother didn't pay me.”
“Who did?”
He hesitated.
“Your father.”
Alex froze.
“My father?”
“He asked me for one thing.”
“What?”
“To emphasize the risks.”
“Why?”
“Because he didn't want you to pursue treatment.”
Alex stared.
“My father?”
The doctor sighed.
“Your parents had business problems.”
“What does that have to do with Elena?”
“The fertility clinic was connected to a trust.”
“What trust?”
“I don't know.”
Alex felt dizzy.
“Doctor, what happened to the embryos?”
Reeves stared at him.
“That wasn't your mother's idea.”
“Then whose?”
“Your father's.”
Alex stood.
“Why?”
“Because he was terrified you would lose control of the company.”
“I don't understand.”
“Your inheritance agreement had a condition.”
“What condition?”
“The Vance family controlling interest could only fully transfer to you after you had a biological heir.”
Alex went still.
“My father thought Elena couldn't have children.”
“Yes.”
“So he tried to create embryos.”
“Yes.”
“Without telling me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because he wanted your marriage to remain intact while securing the family line.”
Alex laughed bitterly.
“So everyone lied.”
Reeves didn't answer.
“Where are the records?”
“Somewhere in Boston.”
“Where?”
“The Vance family law office.”
Alex immediately called.
The attorney said:
“There is another envelope.”
“What does it contain?”
“I can't discuss it by phone.”
Alex drove back.
At the law firm, the senior partner, Miriam Cole, placed a sealed envelope on the table.
“This should have been delivered six years ago.”
Alex stared.
“Why wasn't it?”
“Your mother instructed us to wait.”
“Until when?”
“Until you were ready.”
“Ready for what?”
She looked at him.
“To learn why your divorce happened.”
He opened the envelope.
Inside were bank records.
Payments.
Transfers.
Three transfers to a fertility clinic.
Three more to a gestational carrier agency.
And one payment to a private investigator.
The investigator's name was Samuel Redd.
Alex recognized it.
His father had used him for corporate investigations.
“What did he investigate?”
Miriam handed him a report.
Elena.
His wife.
Every appointment.
Every test.
Every movement.
Every communication.
His father had been spying on her.
Alex's stomach turned.
Then he saw the final page.
Pregnancy confirmed.
Date.
Six years ago.
Next line:
Recommend separation before subject reveals pregnancy.
Alex closed his eyes.
His father knew.
His mother knew.
And together they had made sure he didn't.
He looked at Miriam.
“Why?”
“Because your father believed Elena was unsuitable for the Vance succession.”
“That was his excuse?”
“There was more.”
“What?”
Miriam hesitated.
“He believed Elena's family had a legal claim against one of your family's old holdings.”
Alex frowned.
“Elena's family?”
“Yes.”
“Her parents?”
“They owned a company that was absorbed by Vance Capital twenty years ago.”
“I don't know anything about that.”
“Exactly.”
Alex stared at the file.
The divorce had never been about fertility.
It had been about control.
His family had feared Elena.
Not because she couldn't give him children.
Because her family could expose something.
He drove to Little Nests.
Elena was waiting.
“You found something.”
He nodded.
“My father and mother manipulated our entire marriage.”
She closed her eyes.
“I suspected.”
“No.”
He placed the documents in front of her.
“They knew you were pregnant.”
Her face went pale.
“They knew?”
“Yes.”
“They knew about Emma?”
“Yes.”
“And the embryos?”
“Yes.”
She stared at him.
“Then why did they keep you away?”
“To control the inheritance.”
Elena swallowed.
“And me?”
“You were a threat.”
She looked down.
“I spent six years thinking you left because I wasn't enough.”
Alex's chest tightened.
“I know.”
“You made me believe that.”
“I know.”
“Do you understand what that did to me?”
He nodded.
“I don't think I ever will.”
She stood.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“You won't.”
Her voice cracked.
“But you can understand what it did to the children.”
He swallowed.
“Yes.”
A child ran into the room.
“Mama!”
Elena immediately wiped her eyes.
Grace hugged her.
Alex watched.
Grace looked at him.
“Are you sad?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I made a big mistake.”
She thought.
“Mommy says mistakes can be fixed.”
Alex looked at Elena.
“She's right.”
Elena didn't answer.
Later, Alex sat with the four children in the playroom.
Emma handed him a drawing.
It showed five people.
The four children.
Elena.
And a blank space.
“Who's that?”
“Daddy.”
Alex looked at her.
“You don't have one?”
“We never had one.”
He swallowed hard.
She pointed to the blank space.
“Mommy said maybe someday.”
Alex looked at Elena across the room.
She was watching them.
He understood.
He couldn't simply walk in and claim them.
He had to build something.
Trust.
Time.
A relationship.
Then his phone buzzed.
Miriam.
The missing fertility agreement had been found.
It contained one final clause.
If the children were born from Vance genetic material, the mother carrying them could not claim guardianship without approval from the Vance family trustee.
Alex felt cold.
“Who is the trustee?”
Miriam replied:
“Beatrice Vance.”
He closed his eyes.
May you like
His mother wasn't simply controlling the money.
She had legal leverage over his children.
