Chapter 11 - THE PRENATAL FILEThe clinic listed on the report did not exist.
At least, not in the way Claire had described it.
The address belonged to a medical-document processing company.
It printed laboratory forms for licensed providers.
It did not perform paternity testing.
The report was manufactured.
Ryan read the investigator’s preliminary findings twice.
Then he dropped the paper onto the table.
“She created the whole thing.”
“You helped create other documents,” I said.
“Not this.”
“You expect me to trust you?”
“No.”
His answer surprised me.
“You shouldn’t trust me. But I didn’t fake the paternity test.”
The police took Ryan downtown for a formal interview.
They did not arrest him that night.
Not yet.
I remained in the mansion with one detective and my attorney.
The bedroom was treated as a possible evidence scene.
I moved into the guest wing.
At two in the morning, Claire called from the clinic.
The baby was healthy.
Claire’s blood pressure had stabilized.
“Come get me,” she said.
“I’ll send a driver.”
“I asked for my husband.”
“I’m not available in that role tonight.”
Silence.
Then her voice softened.
“Daniel, I made mistakes.”
“Was the paternity report one of them?”
“You don’t understand how lonely I was.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“I needed something that belonged to me.”
“The child is not property.”
“You left me alone for years.”
“I traveled for work. You traveled with me until you chose not to.”
“I was tired of living inside your life.”
“Then you could have left.”
“With nothing?”
“You signed a prenuptial agreement protecting premarital assets. You would not have left with nothing.”
“Not enough.”
The honesty of that answer hurt more than another lie.
I ended the call.
The next morning, my attorney brought me copies of Claire’s medical records obtained with her earlier written authorization for estate planning.
The fertility timeline made paternity uncertain.
Claire had been with both of us during the possible conception period.
There was no legitimate prenatal test in the file.
But there was a note from her obstetrician.
PATIENT DECLINED NONINVASIVE PATERNITY TEST AFTER REQUESTING INFORMATION.
Claire had researched the test.
Then refused it.
She had never known who the father was.
The fake report had not replaced an unfavorable result.
It had replaced uncertainty.
I turned to the next page.
A handwritten note had been scanned into the file.
Ask O. whether D’s stored sample is still accessible.
D.
Daniel.
My biological sample had been stored at our fertility clinic during treatment.
Someone had tried to access it.
I called the clinic director.
When I explained, her voice became grave.
“Mr. Morgan, there was an access request three months ago.”
“From whom?”
“Your wife.”
May you like
“Did you release the sample?”
“No. But someone attempted to collect it using a forged authorization.”
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