Chapter 29 - Margaret's Final Experiment
Walter survived.
The bullet struck below his collarbone.
Agents tackled Margaret before she could fire again.
Wren screamed at them not to touch her.
Meadow grabbed her sister and pulled her away from the chaos.
By sunrise, the hospital was secure.
Walter underwent emergency surgery under guard.
Margaret was taken into federal custody.
Thomas was found alive in a rural house owned by the Vale Institute.
Judge Hurst remained missing.
Daniel was returned to secure detention after treatment.
And for the first time, Claire stood in the same room as both daughters.
No glass.
No screen.
No photograph.
Wren sat at the opposite end of a hospital conference room.
She refused to sit near Claire.
Claire accepted it.
Meadow sat halfway between them.
Not as a bridge.
Just because she wanted to.
Wren looked at Claire occasionally.
Quickly.
Then away.
Finally she asked:
"Did you sign it?"
Claire knew what she meant.
"The neonatal transfer."
"Yes."
Wren's face tightened.
Claire continued before fear could make her defensive.
"I signed several forms while I was in labor."
"You didn't read them."
"No."
"You signed me away."
"I signed a paper. I did not know it transferred a second baby because I did not know there were two babies."
Wren looked toward the floor.
"That's convenient."
"It is."
Claire's voice shook.
"And I hate that."
Wren looked up.
Claire did not reach for her.
"I can't prove what I felt about you because I didn't know you existed."
Wren's eyes filled.
"Then you didn't love me."
The sentence nearly broke Claire.
She answered anyway.
"No."
Meadow looked at her mother in shock.
Claire continued.
"I didn't love you then because I didn't know you were there."
Wren stared.
"But if someone had put you in my arms and told me you were my daughter, I would have."
"How do you know?"
"I don't."
Claire swallowed.
"I can't change the past by pretending I had feelings I wasn't allowed to have."
Wren began crying.
Claire remained seated.
"But I care about you now."
"Because I'm your daughter?"
"Partly."
"That's not enough."
"No."
Wren seemed surprised.
Claire continued.
"I care because I've seen what they did to you. Because you helped Meadow. Because you were brave in that tunnel. Because you're sitting here asking questions nobody gave you permission to ask."
Wren wiped her face.
"And because you're my daughter."
Silence.
Wren whispered:
"I don't want to live with you."
"I know."
"I might never."
"I know."
"You won't fight for custody?"
Claire's heart twisted.
"No."
Meadow looked toward her.
Claire continued.
"I'll fight for you to be safe."
Wren's breathing slowed.
"That's different."
"Yes."
Dr. Singh and Wren's newly appointed independent advocate began arranging temporary therapeutic residential care.
No relatives.
No Family Renewal affiliates.
No automatic placement with Claire.
The decision surprised reporters when the existence of a second daughter eventually became public.
Claire did not care.
Wren had spent nine years being treated as something someone could claim.
Claire would not begin their relationship by claiming her again.
Margaret requested an interview.
Claire refused.
Then Margaret said she had information about the original consent document.
Claire went.
Margaret sat behind reinforced glass.
For the first time, she looked defeated.
Not remorseful.
Defeated.
"You think you won," Margaret said.
Claire sat.
"No."
Margaret smiled.
"Good."
"Where is the original hospital document?"
"Judge Hurst has it."
"Where is Hurst?"
"I don't know."
"Why did Walter say the document mattered?"
"Because it contains another signature."
Claire's stomach tightened.
"Whose?"
Margaret leaned closer.
"Yours."
"I know."
"No."
Margaret smiled faintly.
"Another signature attributed to you."
Claire froze.
"What did they have me sign?"
"A broader authorization."
"What broader authorization?"
"Future placement decisions."
Claire stared.
"That's impossible."
"You were medicated."
"Forgery."
"Not entirely."
Claire's hands tightened.
Margaret watched her.
"Family Renewal didn't need perfect consent. It needed plausible consent."
Claire stood.
"You built this."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Margaret looked almost amused.
"You keep asking that as though there is a satisfying answer."
"There isn't."
"No."
Claire turned to leave.
Margaret spoke again.
"Claire."
She stopped.
"Pair Five was not selected randomly."
Claire looked back.
"What?"
Margaret's expression changed.
"You were selected before Daniel."
Claire felt cold.
"What does that mean?"
"Daniel's family provided money."
Margaret leaned toward the glass.
"But you provided the trait we wanted."
Claire stared.
"What trait?"
Margaret smiled.
"Ask your mother."
Claire did not move.
"My mother died when I was nineteen."
Margaret's smile disappeared.
"No."
Claire's pulse stopped.
"Yes."
"No, Claire."
May you like
Margaret spoke softly.
"The woman who died was your aunt."
Related Stories
