Chapter 4 - The Battle for My Children
Alex confronted Beatrice that evening.
She sat in her Beacon Hill mansion as though she had been waiting.
“You found the agreement.”
“Yes.”
“You shouldn't have.”
“You made me believe Elena couldn't become a mother.”
“She couldn't.”
“She gave birth to Emma.”
“A complication.”
“She raised four children.”
“Three of them were created through resources your father funded.”
Alex stared.
“They are mine.”
Beatrice smiled.
“Legally, that's more complicated.”
“What do you want?”
“Control.”
“Of what?”
“Your family.”
Alex laughed.
“You already destroyed my marriage.”
“I saved your future.”
“You ruined my past.”
She stood.
“You were weak.”
“I loved her.”
“You loved an impossible dream.”
“She wasn't impossible.”
His mother became furious.
“You abandoned her because she couldn't give you an heir.”
“No.”
“You did.”
“You made me believe that.”
She looked away.
“You needed a reason.”
Alex stared.
“You needed a reason to control me.”
She didn't deny it.
He walked toward the door.
“Where is the trustee agreement?”
“With me.”
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“I'll challenge it.”
“You won't win.”
He turned.
“Watch me.”
The next morning, Alex filed for emergency guardianship review.
Elena was furious.
“You went to court?”
“Yes.”
“You said you wouldn't make promises.”
“I didn't.”
“You're risking the children's stability.”
“I want legal protection.”
“They're already protected.”
“From whom?”
She stared.
“Beatrice.”
Elena went silent.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“I thought you did.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't want the children caught in a Vance family war.”
Alex softened.
“I understand.”
“No, you don't.”
“I do now.”
He sat beside her.
“I don't want custody just because they're genetically mine.”
“Then why?”
“Because they're my children.”
Elena's eyes filled.
“And because I want them to have the choice to know me.”
The hearing became ugly.
Beatrice arrived with lawyers.
She argued that Elena had intentionally withheld the children's existence.
Alex admitted it.
“She did.”
The judge asked why.
Alex answered honestly.
“Because I walked out on her first.”
The courtroom became silent.
Beatrice stared at him.
Alex continued.
“I thought she couldn't become a mother.”
“You were told otherwise.”
“No.”
He looked at the judge.
“I was told what my family wanted me to believe.”
Elena looked at him.
The judge asked:
“Do you accept responsibility for your absence?”
“Yes.”
“Do you intend to establish a relationship with the children?”
“Yes.”
“Do you seek full custody?”
Alex shook his head.
“No.”
Beatrice looked surprised.
“I seek shared legal responsibility.”
The judge studied him.
“And what happens if the mother objects?”
Alex looked at Elena.
“Then I earn her trust.”
Not demand it.
Earn it.
The judge granted temporary family mediation.
Beatrice left furious.
Outside, she stopped Alex.
“You will regret choosing her.”
Alex looked at his mother.
“No.”
She smiled coldly.
“You have no idea what those children are.”
His blood ran cold.
“What does that mean?”
“They aren't what you think.”
“What are you talking about?”
She walked away.
Later that evening, Elena received a call.
She collapsed into a chair.
“What happened?”
Her face was pale.
“The clinic called.”
“What clinic?”
“The one where the embryos were stored.”
“What did they say?”
“The records show one embryo doesn't match.”
Alex froze.
“What?”
“One of the three embryos used wasn't genetically related to us.”
The room went silent.
“Then whose child is that?”
“We don't know.”
“But there are four children.”
“Yes.”
“Emma is yours.”
“Yes.”
“One of the triplets may not be.”
Elena began crying.
“Alex…”
He looked toward the playroom.
The children were laughing.
He understood immediately.
“No matter what the DNA says, they're all my family.”
Elena stared.
He took her hand.
“I don't care.”
“Then we still need to know.”
He nodded.
“We do.”
That night, genetic testing was ordered.
The results would take two weeks.
Two weeks of uncertainty.
Two weeks of fear.
May you like
Then someone broke into the testing center.
The samples disappeared.
