Chapter 6 - Michael’s Condition
Michael entered the bathroom without taking off his coat.
His hair was wet from the rain, and his breathing was uneven.
He looked at Sarah first.
“Where’s the phone?”
She handed it to him.
He read Ashley’s message.
Then he looked at Emily.
“What did you tell him?”
“Nothing.”
Michael slapped the phone against his palm.
“Don’t lie.”
“I didn’t tell him where the blanket was because I didn’t know.”
“He couldn’t have found it without help.”
“Maybe you’re not as careful as you think.”
Michael stepped closer.
Emily instinctively covered her stomach.
He noticed.
His expression softened instantly.
That frightened her more than his anger.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said.
Sarah looked at the darkened patch on the bathroom mat.
Emily followed her gaze.
Michael saw it too.
He turned toward his sister.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing yet.”
“I told you to wait.”
“She was going to run.”
“With the baby?”
Sarah crossed her arms.
“She knows.”
Michael looked at Emily.
“How much?”
“Enough to know you’re not the father.”
His face became still.
Emily expected denial.
Instead, he sighed.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“When?”
“After the birth.”
“After you had me declared unstable?”
“That was a precaution.”
“Against what?”
“Against you doing exactly what you’re doing now.”
Emily stared at him.
“What did you put inside me?”
Michael looked away.
Sarah answered for him.
“An embryo.”
“Whose?”
Neither spoke.
Emily stepped forward.
“Whose child am I carrying?”
Michael ran a hand through his hair.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.”
“The baby is genetically healthy. That’s what matters.”
“Genetically healthy?”
The clinical phrase made her stomach turn.
“You selected a child?”
“We selected the strongest available embryo.”
Emily’s breath caught.
“Available from where?”
Michael’s silence answered too much.
She remembered the phrase in Dr. Monroe’s letter.
Your child was selected.
Not created.
Not conceived.
Selected.
“Did the parents know?”
Sarah laughed once.
“Parents?”
Michael shot her a warning look.
Emily turned toward Sarah.
“What does that mean?”
“Enough,” Michael snapped.
Sarah folded her arms.
“She deserves to know what she stole.”
“I didn’t steal anything.”
“You married Michael. You took his name. You moved into this home. And now you’re carrying the only person who can inherit what should have been mine.”
Emily looked between them.
“The trust.”
Sarah’s eyes burned.
“My father wrote it decades ago. Control goes to the first verified biological grandchild.”
“But Michael isn’t the father.”
“No,” Sarah replied. “And neither am I.”
Emily’s confusion deepened.
Michael moved toward the door.
“Sarah, leave.”
She did not move.
“You promised me guardianship.”
“I said we would discuss it.”
“You said the trust would be divided.”
“It will.”
Sarah’s voice rose.
“Not if she refuses to sign.”
Emily finally understood.
The child was biologically related to Richard Carter.
Somehow.
The embryo had been chosen because it qualified as his descendant.
Michael wanted control through marriage.
Sarah wanted control through guardianship.
And Emily was the obstacle between them.
Michael closed the bathroom door behind him.
“Give us a minute.”
Sarah remained still.
“Michael.”
“Go.”
She stared at him for a long moment, then picked up the white bottle and left.
Michael waited until her footsteps faded.
Then he knelt in front of Emily.
His voice became gentle again.
“Listen to me. Sarah is unstable.”
“You brought her here.”
“I made a mistake.”
“You made hundreds of mistakes.”
“I protected you.”
“You imprisoned me.”
“I protected the child.”
“From me?”
“From everyone.”
Emily searched his face.
There was fear there.
Real fear.
Not of the police.
Not of Ashley.
Of his own family.
“Who are the biological parents?” she asked.
Michael lowered his voice.
“My father is one.”
Emily felt the room tilt.
Richard Carter was sixty-eight years old.
“And the mother?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“The embryo had been stored for twenty-nine years. The maternal identity was sealed.”
“Why?”
“Because my father demanded it.”
“Then how do you know the child qualifies for the trust?”
“DNA testing.”
“You tested my baby without telling me?”
“During your prenatal procedure.”
The memory returned in fragments.
A cold examination room.
Michael holding her hand.
Dr. Monroe arguing with someone outside.
A nurse injecting medication.
Emily waking hours later with blood on the sheet and Michael telling her everything had gone perfectly.
She had believed they were checking a complication.
But she had already been pregnant by then.
Or so she thought.
“What procedure did you perform?”
Michael looked at the floor.
Emily’s voice shook.
“Was I pregnant before that night?”
He did not answer.
She grabbed his coat.
“Was I pregnant?”
“No.”
The word destroyed the last piece of the life she remembered.
Michael held her wrists.
“We were going to lose everything.”
“So you used my body to save your inheritance?”
“To save us.”
“There is no us.”
His grip tightened.
“You don’t mean that.”
“I do.”
“You’ll change your mind.”
“I won’t.”
Michael looked toward the door.
Then back at her.
“If Ashley gives the blanket to the police, my father will know Daniel contacted you.”
“What happens then?”
“He won’t just come after me.”
Michael placed a hand on Emily’s stomach.
“He’ll come for his child.”
Emily shoved him away.
“Don’t touch me.”
Michael stood.
“I can stop him.”
“How?”
“Sign the guardianship agreement.”
“No.”
“You don’t understand the condition.”
“What condition?”
Michael’s face hardened.
“If you refuse, the trust names Richard as the child’s automatic guardian.”
Emily stared at him.
“And if I disappear?”
Michael said nothing.
From the hallway came the sound of glass breaking.
Then Sarah screamed.
Michael rushed out.
Emily followed as quickly as she could.
The apartment door stood open.
Sarah was on the floor beside the shattered console table.
The old phone was gone.
May you like
Written across the mirror in red lipstick were five words.
THE BLANKET WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING.
