Chapter 8 - Margaret’s Confession)
No one had seen Margaret enter the hospital.
She stood in the doorway in a black coat, her silver hair immaculate, her expression unreadable.
Arthur moved toward her.
"Where is Rachel?"
Margaret did not look at him.
"Alive."
Arthur’s face twisted.
"Where?"
"I don’t know."
"Do not lie to me."
"I’m not."
He stepped closer.
Claire had never seen Arthur angry.
Margaret finally looked at him.
"Your daughter chose to leave."
"Because of you."
"Because Samuel Reed frightened her."
Arthur’s hands shook.
Claire stepped between them.
"Explain the birth record."
Margaret looked at the notebook.
"You should not have that."
Claire almost smiled.
"That sentence seems popular in your family."
Margaret entered the room.
Michael’s mother moved protectively toward the bed.
Margaret ignored her.
"A19 was never meant to be transferred to Rachel."
Arthur stared.
"Then why was it?"
"Samuel made a mistake."
Elena shook her head.
"No."
Margaret looked at her.
"You’ve always been loyal to dead men, Elena."
"And you’ve always blamed dead men because they cannot correct you."
Margaret’s eyes flashed.
Claire interrupted.
"Whose name was on the birth record?"
Margaret looked directly at her.
"Mine."
Claire heard Arthur breathe in sharply.
Maya, who had arrived moments earlier, spoke from the hallway.
"Mrs. Caldwell, anything you say may become relevant to multiple investigations."
Margaret smiled thinly.
"I am aware of what lawyers do."
Claire said, "You claimed Rachel’s baby as yours?"
"No."
"Then explain."
Margaret looked at Arthur.
"Rachel was not the first woman connected to A19."
Arthur frowned.
"The embryo was created in 1994."
"Correct."
"From Harrison."
"Yes."
"And an unknown woman."
Margaret’s expression changed.
"The woman was not unknown."
Claire’s pulse quickened.
"Who was she?"
Margaret looked toward the window.
"Me."
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Claire felt her mind reject the answer.
A19 had been created from Harrison and Margaret.
Their embryo.
That meant any child born from it would be their biological child.
A sibling to Andrew and Thomas.
An aunt or uncle to Daniel.
Margaret continued.
"After Thomas died, Harrison and I considered having another child. I was forty three. We created embryos."
"Why preserve one for decades?"
"We did not intend to."
Her voice softened for the first time.
"Then Andrew began having health problems. Daniel’s condition became clear. Harrison decided the family obsession with biological inheritance had become poisonous. He ordered everything destroyed."
"But you kept A19."
"Yes."
"And Thomas’s sample."
Margaret looked at Claire.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because Harrison was angry."
"That isn’t an answer."
Margaret’s eyes hardened again.
"He was willing to erase the future of our family because he blamed himself for Thomas’s death."
Arthur whispered, "Thomas died because you pushed him."
Margaret turned.
Claire looked between them.
"What?"
Arthur stared at Margaret.
"You wanted him to join Harrison at the company. Thomas wanted to study music. You fought the night he died."
Margaret’s face drained.
"He ran from the house."
"He drove angry."
"Do not."
"He crashed."
Margaret slapped Arthur.
The sound shocked everyone.
Arthur did not move.
Margaret’s hand trembled.
"My son died alone on a road because I told him he was a disgrace."
The words seemed pulled from somewhere she had buried for fifty years.
"He was seventeen."
Margaret looked at Claire.
"Do you understand what it is to live with one sentence for half a century?"
Claire held her gaze.
"Yes."
Margaret knew exactly which sentence Claire meant.
Now you know your place.
Margaret looked away.
Claire asked again, "What happened to Rachel?"
Margaret sat.
"Years after Harrison died, I learned A19 still existed. I wanted the embryo transferred."
"To Rachel."
"No."
"Then who?"
"Me."
Arthur stared.
"You were in your sixties."
"I had found a surrogate."
Claire felt a chill.
"Who?"
Margaret shook her head.
"She withdrew."
"So you used Rachel."
"I offered her the opportunity."
"You lied to her."
"I did not know Samuel would use A19."
Elena stepped forward.
"Stop."
Margaret looked at her.
"You instructed him."
"No."
"I saw your authorization."
Margaret’s face tightened.
Elena continued.
"You demanded that A19 be used because Rachel had no living children and you believed Arthur would remain loyal if his family’s future depended on you."
Arthur looked physically sick.
Margaret said nothing.
Claire asked, "Did Rachel give birth?"
Margaret’s answer was quiet.
"Yes."
Arthur gripped the back of a chair.
"A boy or girl?"
"A boy."
"Where is he?"
"I do not know."
Arthur shouted, "You expect me to believe that?"
Margaret stood.
"Samuel removed Rachel from the program after she discovered the records. He placed her somewhere I could not reach. Months later I received confirmation that the child was born."
"And the birth record?"
"Samuel used my name as a genetic parent notation, not as the legal mother."
Michael spoke from the bed.
"Then why does the ledger say A19 descendant confirmed living four years ago?"
Margaret looked at him.
"Because I hired someone to find him."
"Did they?"
She hesitated.
"Yes."
Arthur stepped forward again.
"Where?"
Margaret closed her eyes.
"I never saw the child."
"Where is my grandson?"
"I was told he was living under another name."
"Where?"
Margaret looked toward Claire.
"Connecticut."
Claire stopped breathing.
Rachel lived in Connecticut.
Sophie was there now.
With Claire’s sister.
For one insane second Claire imagined some connection.
Then Margaret spoke.
"The investigator sent one photograph."
"Do you have it?"
Margaret reached into her handbag.
She removed an old folded image.
Arthur grabbed it.
Claire looked over his shoulder.
The photograph showed a playground.
A woman sat on a bench with a small boy beside her.
The woman’s face was turned away.
But Arthur recognized her immediately.
"Rachel."
His knees nearly gave way.
The boy looked about two.
The photograph was four years old.
Arthur touched the image with one shaking finger.
Margaret said, "That is the last proof I ever received."
"Who took this?"
"An investigator."
"Name."
Margaret hesitated.
"Peter Lang."
Arthur looked at Claire.
She knew the name.
Everyone in Manhattan finance knew it.
Peter Lang had spent two decades handling private security for powerful families.
He now worked exclusively for Caldwell Holdings.
Claire thought of Michael’s attack.
She looked at Margaret.
"Does Lang still work for Daniel?"
Margaret frowned.
"He works for the company."
Claire’s phone rang.
Rachel.
Her sister.
Claire answered instantly.
"Rachel?"
The voice on the other end was not her sister.
It was Sophie.
"Mommy?"
Claire’s heart stopped.
"Baby, where is Aunt Rachel?"
Sophie sounded confused.
"She went outside."
"Why?"
"A man came."
Claire turned toward Margaret.
"What man?"
"He said he knows Grandma."
Margaret went pale.
Claire whispered, "What did he look like?"
Sophie answered.
"He has white hair."
Margaret rose.
Claire held the phone tighter.
"Sweetheart, lock the door right now."
"I can’t."
"Why?"
There was a tiny pause.
May you like
Then Sophie said the words that sent everyone running from the room.
"Because he already came inside."
