Chapter 6
I called 911 before I called Jason.
Police reached Lauren’s house in eleven minutes.
Too late.
Lauren was gone.
So were Lily and Noah.
There was broken glass in the living room.
Blood near the back door.
No bodies.
No children.
No Robert.
Jason arrived at the police station twenty minutes later.
I met him in the hallway.
“What did your father mean?”
He looked confused.
“What?”
“He said the DNA results would surprise me.”
“I don't know.”
“Don't lie.”
“I’m not.”
“He told me to ask you.”
Jason’s face hardened.
“He’s manipulating you.”
“That doesn't mean he’s wrong.”
“Yes, it does.”
“No, Jason. Your family has spent four years teaching me that every impossible thing can be true.”
He flinched.
Good.
“Is there anything about Emma’s birth you have not told me?”
“No.”
“Anything about my pregnancy?”
“No.”
“Anything about fertility treatment?”
His face changed.
Tiny.
Almost invisible.
But I saw it.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
I stepped closer.
“What happened?”
“Sarah.”
“Tell me.”
He looked around the hallway.
“This isn't the place.”
I laughed.
“I’m beginning to hate that sentence.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“Before you got pregnant, we were trying for almost a year.”
“I remember.”
“You had tests.”
“So did you.”
“Yes.”
My stomach tightened.
“Your results were normal.”
He said nothing.
“Jason?”
“My first test wasn't.”
I stared at him.
“What do you mean?”
“They said my count was extremely low.”
“Why didn't I know?”
“Because I repeated it.”
“And?”
“It improved.”
“How much?”
“Enough that the doctor said pregnancy was possible.”
“Possible.”
“Yes.”
“But difficult.”
He nodded.
I felt a new wave of nausea.
“Did your father know?”
Jason went pale.
“My parents knew about the first test.”
Of course.
I sat down.
“Robert thinks Emma isn't yours.”
Jason stared at me.
“He could.”
“Is that what this is?”
“No.”
“Did you ever doubt me?”
“Never.”
“Did your mother?”
He didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
“Diane believed I cheated.”
“She asked questions.”
I almost laughed.
“Questions?”
“She wondered whether the pregnancy timeline made sense.”
“It made perfect sense.”
“I know.”
“But instead of defending me, you let her wonder.”
“I told her to stop.”
“Clearly she didn't.”
Jason sat beside me.
“Sarah, Emma looks like me.”
“She has your eyes.”
“Yes.”
“Unless we only wanted to see what we expected.”
He stared at the floor.
For the first time, fear appeared on his face.
Not fear about his father.
Fear about Emma.
“If she isn't biologically mine…”
I turned sharply.
“Finish that sentence.”
He looked at me.
I waited.
“If she isn't biologically mine, nothing changes.”
I studied him.
“You mean that?”
“Yes.”
“Because I meant it when I told her.”
He nodded.
“So do I.”
For one small moment, we were parents together again.
Then my phone buzzed.
The DNA laboratory.
Results available.
My heart stopped.
Jason saw the message.
Neither of us moved.
Finally he whispered, “Open it.”
My thumb shook so badly I entered the password wrong twice.
The report loaded.
Three names.
Sarah Miller Hayes.
Jason Hayes.
Emma Hayes.
I scrolled.
Maternity probability:
0.00%.
I knew it.
I expected it.
It still broke something inside me.
Emma was not biologically mine.
I pressed my lips together.
Jason touched my hand.
I pulled away.
Then I scrolled further.
Paternity probability:
99.99%.
I stopped.
Jason stopped breathing.
Emma was his biological daughter.
“What?”
I stared at the screen.
“No.”
Jason took the phone.
He read it.
Then reread it.
“This can't be right.”
I felt dizzy.
“If Emma is Lauren’s biological daughter…”
“And I’m her father.”
His face turned gray.
Then Lauren’s baby had been Jason’s.
Emma wasn't the child of Lauren’s later boyfriend.
She was Jason’s daughter.
His biological daughter.
Which meant Lauren and Jason had conceived not one child together.
But two.
Noah.
Then Emma.
Years apart.
“How?” I whispered.
Jason stood.
“I haven't seen Lauren since before you and I met.”
I looked at him.
He shook his head violently.
“No. Sarah, no.”
“DNA doesn't lie.”
“I didn't sleep with her.”
“You expect me to believe Emma was conceived without you?”
“I don't know!”
Several officers looked toward us.
Jason lowered his voice.
“I swear to you.”
My chest hurt.
Emma’s conception date.
I calculated automatically.
We had been married almost a year.
I remembered the month clearly.
A weekend at the lake.
A positive pregnancy test weeks later.
Except if Emma was biologically Lauren and Jason’s, none of my memories explained anything.
“Frozen embryos,” I whispered.
Jason stared at me.
“What?”
“Did you ever store sperm?”
“No.”
“Donate?”
“No.”
“Fertility clinic?”
“Only testing.”
“Where?”
He named it.
Hawthorne Reproductive Center.
I knew that clinic.
So did Robert.
Robert had driven Jason to one appointment when I was stuck at work.
I stood.
“Your father.”
Jason’s expression changed.
“You think he…”
“I don't know what to think anymore.”
We called our attorney.
Then the detective.
Within two hours, investigators obtained preliminary records from Hawthorne.
Jason’s sample had been retained for thirty days after testing.
Policy.
Then supposedly destroyed.
Supposedly.
One technician working there at the time had later been fired for mishandling specimens.
Her name?
Patricia Cole.
The same nurse involved in the hospital switch.
I stared at the report.
“This wasn't one crime.”
The detective nodded.
“It may have been planned years earlier.”
Jason looked sick.
“Why would my father use my sample to get Lauren pregnant?”
Nobody answered.
Then I understood.
“He wanted Lauren connected to you forever.”
Jason looked at me.
“What?”
“Robert knew she was your half-sister by then.”
“Yes.”
“So why would he create more children between you?”
My stomach twisted.
“Leverage.”
The detective leaned forward.
“Explain.”
“Jason was Robert’s only legitimate son. Family business. Inheritance. Reputation.”
Jason’s family owned three construction companies.
Robert had been obsessed with legacy.
“What if Robert wanted control over Jason?” I continued. “A hidden child would do that.”
Jason whispered, “Noah.”
“And later Emma.”
Rachel, who had joined us, shook her head.
“But why twice?”
I looked at Jason.
“Maybe the second time wasn't Robert’s plan.”
The detective asked the same question.
We needed Lauren.
She knew more than anyone alive.
And Robert had her.
At 9:18 p.m., my phone rang again.
This time it was Diane.
“Sarah.”
I gripped the phone.
“Where are you?”
“I need you to listen.”
“Where are the children?”
“With Robert.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Don't lie.”
“I’m not!”
Her voice cracked.
For the first time, Diane sounded desperate.
“Robert has lost control.”
“He never had control.”
“No, you don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
“He wasn't supposed to take them.”
“What was supposed to happen?”
Silence.
“Diane.”
“I was supposed to get Emma.”
My blood froze.
“What?”
“At the birthday party.”
Every muscle in my body tightened.
“The cake.”
She started crying.
“It wasn't supposed to cut her.”
“What was supposed to happen?”
“I needed everyone distracted.”
“Why?”
“So I could take a strand of her hair.”
I almost couldn't speak.
“For DNA?”
“Yes.”
“You could have asked.”
“You would have questioned me.”
“YOU SMASHED A CAKE INTO A FOUR-YEAR-OLD’S FACE FOR HAIR?”
“I panicked!”
I wanted to throw the phone.
“Why did you need a DNA test?”
“To prove Robert lied to me.”
“About what?”
Diane began sobbing.
“He told me Emma wasn't Jason’s.”
I looked at Jason.
“He was wrong.”
“I know that now.”
“How?”
“I got my own results this morning.”
“You already tested her?”
“I had a sample from her hairbrush weeks ago.”
I felt sick.
“Then why the birthday stunt?”
“I needed a clean sample because the first test could be challenged.”
Of course.
This woman had apparently decided boundaries did not apply to her.
“What else did the test show?”
Diane went quiet.
“Diane.”
“There was a genetic marker.”
“What marker?”
“One Robert was afraid of.”
My pulse jumped.
“The disease Lauren mentioned?”
“Yes.”
“What disease?”
“I don't know the name.”
“You've hidden this for four years and you don't know?”
“Robert handled everything!”
“You let him.”
She started crying again.
I didn't care.
“Where is he?”
“There’s a cabin.”
Jason grabbed my arm.
“Ask where.”
“Where?”
Diane hesitated.
“Your family used to vacation there. Near Blackwater Lake.”
Jason immediately knew.
“My grandfather’s cabin.”
Diane whispered, “Yes.”
“Is Robert there?”
“I think so.”
“Why?”
“Because that's where he kept the records after he disappeared.”
I looked at the detective.
He was already signaling other officers.
“Diane, are you with him?”
“No.”
“Where are you?”
Another pause.
“Outside your house.”
Jason and I stared at each other.
“What?”
“I came back.”
“Why?”
“Because Robert is going to hurt Lauren.”
My voice dropped.
“What did she do?”
“She found out why he switched the babies.”
“We know why.”
“No.”
Diane took a shuddering breath.
“You only know the story he wanted everyone to believe.”
My skin turned cold.
“Then tell me the truth.”
She whispered:
“He wasn't trying to save Lauren’s baby.”
“Then why did he give Emma to me?”
“He needed someone to raise Jason’s daughter.”
I stared at Jason.
“And Lily?”
May you like
Diane started crying so hard she could barely speak.
“Lily was never supposed to survive.”
