Chapter 11 - Austin’s Mother
Margaret had raised Austin from birth.
She had been in every childhood photograph.
Every birthday.
Every school ceremony.
Every memory.
She had told him dozens of times how difficult his delivery had been.
Twenty-one hours of labor.
An emergency cesarean.
A scar she once showed him when he was twelve because he had jokingly said Carla was her favorite.
Now Austin stared at Charles.
“Who is my biological mother?”
Charles sat down.
Irene whispered, “Austin…”
He did not look at her.
“Answer me.”
Charles removed his glasses.
“Margaret carried you.”
“That isn’t the question.”
“No.”
“Whose egg?”
Silence.
Austin’s chest tightened.
Charles finally said, “Evelyn’s.”
Irene covered her mouth.
Austin stepped backward.
“No.”
“After Irene’s birth, Evelyn’s stored reproductive material was divided.”
“You said one embryo.”
“One viable embryo remained after the H-24 transfer process.”
“You’re changing the story.”
“I simplified it.”
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
Austin’s voice cracked with rage.
“I am Evelyn Harrow’s son?”
“Genetically, yes.”
Irene stared at her husband.
They were not biologically related through Charles.
But Evelyn was Irene’s mother.
And Evelyn had provided the ovum used to conceive Austin.
Irene gripped the table.
Austin realized what she was thinking.
“No.”
Crowe’s voice came through the screen.
“You are not siblings in the conventional legal sense, but genetically you share maternal ancestry.”
Irene looked ill.
Austin turned on Crowe.
“Why didn’t any premarital testing catch this?”
“Because nobody tests newlyweds for shared mitochondrial lineage.”
Austin faced Charles.
“How did Margaret carry me?”
Charles looked destroyed.
“Evelyn wanted the Harrow line dispersed beyond trustee control. She believed multiple hidden descendants would make the succession system impossible to monopolize.”
“So she created me.”
“She donated reproductive material.”
“With your sperm?”
“No.”
Austin froze.
Another secret.
“Then who is my father?”
Charles closed his eyes.
“I am your father in every way that mattered.”
“That means no.”
“I raised you.”
“WHO?”
Charles looked at the floor.
“I don’t know.”
Austin laughed.
It sounded broken.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“The paternal donor was anonymous.”
Crowe interrupted.
“That’s another lie.”
Charles looked at the screen.
Crowe uploaded a second file.
Austin opened it.
The paternal donor section had been unsealed.
Name:
Daniel Harrow.
Irene whispered, “Who is Daniel?”
Charles answered.
“Evelyn’s cousin.”
Austin felt nauseated.
Crowe continued.
“Which means Austin carries both maternal and paternal Harrow lineage.”
Irene looked at the pregnancy report.
“Our baby…”
“Carries an unusually concentrated Harrow genetic claim,” Crowe said.
“That is why the system recognized the pregnancy immediately.”
Austin stared at his father.
“You knew when I married Irene?”
“No.”
“You knew who she was.”
“Yes.”
“You knew who I was.”
“Yes.”
“But you didn’t know our genetic connection?”
“I knew it was possible.”
Austin crossed the room and slammed Charles against the wall.
Grant did not stop him this time.
“You let me marry her?”
Charles gripped Austin’s wrists.
“You love each other.”
“That wasn’t your decision to make!”
“Irene and you are not first-degree relatives. The medical risk profile was reviewed.”
Irene’s voice went cold.
“Reviewed?”
Everyone turned.
She looked at Charles with complete disgust.
“You reviewed whether our marriage was genetically acceptable?”
“I was trying to protect both of you.”
“No. You were still treating us like H numbers.”
Charles fell silent.
The registry clock chimed.
9:00 a.m.
All screens went black.
Then a new message appeared.
SUCCESSION DEADLINE REACHED.
TWO QUALIFIED CLAIMS DETECTED.
Irene looked at Crowe.
“Two?”
Crowe seemed confused.
“My system shows…”
He stopped.
Charles moved toward the display.
Claim One:
Unborn child of Irene Elizabeth Wentworth and Austin Daniel Wentworth.
Claim Two:
Unborn child, maternal identity sealed.
Austin looked at Carla’s file.
“Is it her?”
Crowe stared at the screen.
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Carla’s pregnancy was entered manually.”
“And this one?”
Crowe’s voice changed.
“It was verified automatically.”
Charles whispered, “That’s impossible.”
The system displayed a location code.
Harrow House.
Irene stared.
“Someone pregnant is inside Harrow House?”
Then a live camera activated.
A woman sat in the hidden nursery.
Her face was obscured by shadow.
She rested one hand on a visibly pregnant belly.
The woman lifted her head.
Austin stopped breathing.
He recognized her.
May you like
Everyone did.
Margaret Wentworth.
