Chapter 8 - What Melinda Had Stolen
Melinda’s confession came in pieces.
Some of it emerged in the consultation room. The rest came during police interviews and court proceedings.
She had envied Kirsten for years.
At first, the envy was small enough to hide beneath friendship.
Kirsten earned the fellowship Melinda wanted.
Kirsten married the wealthy, charming man everyone admired.
Kirsten became a doctor while Melinda remained a coordinator, arranging appointments for women whose lives seemed more important than hers.
When Connor began complaining about Kirsten, Melinda felt chosen.
He told her Kirsten was cold.
He said the marriage had become a business arrangement.
He claimed he wanted a warm home, a loyal wife, and a child.
Melinda decided she could give him all three.
After the divorce, Connor was still obsessed with becoming a father. He feared the truth about his infertility would become public during future treatment.
Melinda proposed using a donated embryo.
Then she remembered Kirsten’s final frozen embryo.
It was already available.
It had passed genetic screening.
Most importantly, using it would allow Melinda to take the one thing Kirsten still wanted.
Melinda changed the contact details, forged the authorization, and bribed a nurse.
Connor signed the transfer release without reading it carefully.
He gave Melinda money but later claimed he believed it was for legitimate treatment expenses.
Melinda underwent the embryo transfer at a cooperating clinic under a false patient code.
When the pregnancy test came back positive, Connor proposed.
He never asked enough questions to discover the truth.
Melinda told investigators she had planned to raise Lucas as her own forever.
She believed Kirsten would never investigate because the clinic had reported the embryo destroyed.
Lucas’s heart condition changed everything.
The doctors requested family medical history. Melinda delayed appointments because she feared genetic testing might connect him to Kirsten.
Her fear had placed Lucas at risk.
That fact destroyed any sympathy Connor might have felt for her.
“You knew he could be sick,” he said during their final meeting in the hospital.
“I thought it would go away.”
“You canceled his appointments.”
“I was afraid.”
“You were protecting yourself.”
Melinda stared at him through swollen eyes.
“I did everything for you.”
“No. You did it to defeat her.”
Connor left the room.
He tried to speak to Kirsten in the hallway.
“I didn’t know she stole your embryo.”
“You knew there was something wrong.”
“I thought you had agreed.”
“You knew I would never give my embryo to the woman who had an affair with my husband.”
Connor lowered his voice.
“I made mistakes.”
“You made choices.”
“I can help with Lucas.”
Kirsten studied him.
For years, she had wanted Connor to take responsibility.
Now that he was finally trying, the words felt empty.
“You called him your son to hurt me.”
“I was angry.”
“You brought him into a hospital hallway like a trophy.”
“I’ve raised him for a year.”
“And you ignored questions about his conception because the lie made you feel powerful.”
Connor looked toward the floor.
“I love him.”
Kirsten believed that part.
Love, however, did not erase harm.
“Then do what is best for him,” she said. “Tell the truth. Cooperate with the court. Stop protecting yourself.”
Connor’s face tightened.
“You want to take him away from me.”
“I want to protect my child.”
“He knows Melinda as his mother.”
“I know.”
The answer surprised him.
Kirsten did not intend to tear Lucas from the only home he remembered overnight.
She worked with child-development specialists, social workers, and the court to create a gradual transition plan.
Until the custody hearing, Lucas stayed with Harold, who had been the most consistent and responsible adult in his life.
Kirsten visited every day.
The first time she held Lucas, he touched the hospital badge clipped to her blouse.
He did not know her.
That pain was sharper than she expected.
But then he wrapped his hand around her finger.
Kirsten sat beside his hospital bed and cried silently.
She had spent a year grieving a child who was alive.
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Now she had the rest of her life to become someone he recognized as home.
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