Chapter 3 - The Best Friend Who Knew Too Much
Melinda arrived at the house less than an hour later.
Connor had called her despite Kirsten ordering him not to.
She entered through the front door with tears already in her eyes.
“Kirsten, let me explain.”
“You forged my signature.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
Kirsten held up the form.
“It looks exactly like that.”
Melinda glanced at Connor, but he remained near the window.
“The doctor needed the consent quickly,” Melinda said. “You had already agreed to treatment.”
“I agreed to treatment with my husband. I did not agree to be deceived about the biological father of my embryos.”
“Connor was ashamed.”
“And you helped him lie.”
“I thought I was protecting you both.”
“You had no right.”
Melinda stepped closer.
“We were trying to give you a baby.”
“We?”
The word hung between them.
Melinda stopped crying.
Kirsten looked at Connor.
“How long?”
Connor folded his arms.
“Don’t turn this into something else.”
“How long have you been sleeping with her?”
Melinda shook her head.
“Kirsten—”
“How long?”
Connor finally answered.
“Three months.”
The truth was almost strangely peaceful.
For weeks, Kirsten had been drowning in suspicion. Now her feet touched the bottom.
She looked at Melinda.
“You held my hand during my treatments.”
“I never meant for this to happen.”
“You scheduled my appointments while meeting my husband behind my back.”
“We developed feelings.”
“Feelings do not erase decisions.”
Connor stepped between them.
“Our marriage was already over.”
“You forgot to tell me.”
“We haven’t been happy in years.”
Kirsten looked toward the cream-colored room upstairs.
She thought about the injections, the surgeries, and the embryo still frozen at Northstar.
“Then leave.”
Connor blinked.
“What?”
“Both of you. Leave my house.”
“It’s our house,” he said.
“Then I’ll leave.”
She walked upstairs and packed one suitcase.
Connor followed her.
“You’re being dramatic.”
“My husband and my best friend lied about my medical treatment, forged my signature, and had an affair. What reaction would feel appropriately calm to you?”
“You were never there for me.”
“I was trying to survive what you told me was my failure.”
Connor’s expression shifted, but not into guilt.
“You always have to sound superior.”
Kirsten closed the suitcase.
“No. I only sound clear now because I finally understand who you are.”
She left that night and checked into a hotel near the hospital.
The divorce moved quickly.
Connor wanted the house. Kirsten let him have it in exchange for a clean financial settlement and full control over the remaining embryo.
The clinic’s official policy required both married partners to sign before an embryo could be transferred, donated, or destroyed.
Although Connor was not the genetic father, his name appeared on the original treatment agreement.
During mediation, Kirsten stated that she wanted the remaining embryo moved to a different facility until she decided what to do.
Connor objected.
“You’re going to use it without me?”
“It is biologically mine.”
“We made it during our marriage.”
“With donor sperm you secretly selected.”
His attorney whispered something to him.
Connor finally signed a document waiving any future parental claim. The agreement also prohibited Northstar from releasing the embryo without Kirsten’s in-person authorization.
Kirsten believed that ended the danger.
What she did not know was that Melinda still had access to Northstar’s records.
She also had a copy of Kirsten’s identification, signature, medical history, and treatment schedule.
Three weeks after the divorce became final, Kirsten received an email from Melinda.
It contained only one sentence.
I hope one day you understand that Connor and I deserve the family you could never give him.
Kirsten deleted it.
A month later, she accepted a position leading a pediatric cardiac research program.
She moved into a smaller apartment, went to therapy, and began rebuilding her life.
May you like
She did not know that while she was learning how to live alone, Melinda was preparing for an embryo transfer.
---
