Chapter 6 - Ryan’s BrotherRyan laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because the alternative was shouting.
“My father had another son?”
Diane sat across from them in the empty consultation room.
Sarah kept Noah beside her.
“Yes.”
“With who?”
Diane looked at the floor.
“Before we married.”
Ryan stared.
“You’ve known my whole life.”
“Yes.”
“Dad knew.”
“Obviously.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
Ryan slammed his hand against the table.
Noah flinched.
Ryan immediately stopped.
“Sorry.”
He crouched.
Noah watched him carefully.
Then Ryan looked back at Diane.
“Name.”
“Ethan.”
“Last name?”
“He used his mother’s.”
“Which is?”
“Cole.”
Ryan froze.
Sarah felt something shift.
“Ethan Cole.”
Diane nodded.
Ryan whispered, “I know that name.”
Sarah looked at him.
“How?”
“He worked for Whitaker Development.”
Diane closed her eyes.
Ryan stood.
“Five years ago.”
“Yes.”
“He was a project manager.”
“Yes.”
“You fired him.”
Diane’s mouth tightened.
“He was stealing.”
Ryan stared.
“Was he?”
No answer.
“Mom.”
“No.”
Ryan looked sick.
“You fired my brother and told me he was a thief.”
“I protected you.”
Sarah almost laughed.
There it was again.
Protection.
The word every liar used when the truth became inconvenient.
Ryan asked, “Did Dad know he worked for us?”
“Yes.”
“Did Ethan?”
“He knew Charles was his father.”
Ryan stepped back.
“Did he know about me?”
“Yes.”
“And he never said anything.”
“He was paid not to.”
Ryan’s face twisted.
Sarah looked at Diane.
“What does Ethan have to do with Noah?”
Diane’s expression changed.
Sarah saw it.
“You used him.”
“No.”
“In the fertility clinic.”
Diane’s jaw clenched.
Ryan whispered:
“You used Ethan’s genetic material?”
Diane snapped.
“It wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Sarah felt cold.
“What was supposed to happen?”
Diane looked trapped.
Finally:
“You and Ryan had embryos created.”
Sarah nodded.
She remembered.
Five.
Two viable.
One transferred.
The clinic told them the first cycle succeeded.
Noah.
Diane continued.
“The foundation was funding a fertility research program.”
Ryan stared.
“What kind?”
“Genetic screening.”
Sarah’s hands tightened around Noah.
“For diseases?”
“Yes.”
“At first.”
“At first?”
Diane looked away.
Sarah said, “Tell me.”
“They began testing methods for replacing damaged sperm samples.”
Ryan frowned.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It was experimental.”
Sarah’s voice became quiet.
“Who authorized them to experiment on us?”
Diane said nothing.
Ryan stared at his mother.
“You.”
She didn’t deny it.
Sarah’s stomach turned.
“You used our fertility treatment as research?”
“I was trying to help.”
“You used me.”
“We were told your chances were low.”
“That gave you permission to alter my child?”
“No.”
Diane’s voice cracked for the first time.
“I didn’t know they would use Ethan.”
Ryan looked at her.
“Then who did?”
“Charles.”
Silence.
Ryan staggered back.
“Our father?”
“He discovered the program.”
“And?”
“He was furious.”
Diane laughed bitterly.
“At first.”
Sarah’s eyes narrowed.
“What changed?”
“Ethan had a degenerative condition in his family line.”
Ryan frowned.
“What condition?”
Diane looked at Noah.
Sarah felt dread.
“Don’t look at him. Answer.”
“A neurological disorder.”
Sarah pulled Noah closer.
“Is that why he’s nonverbal?”
“We don’t know.”
Sarah’s eyes burned.
“You knew there was a possible inherited condition and never told us.”
“It isn’t certain.”
“You watched us spend years in speech therapy.”
Diane looked away.
“You watched me wonder every night if I did something wrong during pregnancy.”
“Sarah—”
“And you knew.”
Diane’s voice hardened again.
“I knew there was a possibility.”
Ryan looked shattered.
“Dad used Ethan’s sample?”
Diane shook her head.
“Not deliberately.”
“Then explain.”
“The clinic mislabeled two donor files.”
Sarah stared.
“Donor?”
Diane swallowed.
“One was Ethan’s research sample.”
“And the other?”
Diane hesitated.
Ryan saw it.
“What?”
“Charles.”
Ryan went still.
Sarah felt sick.
“Your husband gave a fertility sample?”
“He participated in the genetic study.”
Ryan whispered, “Why?”
“He wanted to compare paternal markers across generations.”
Sarah stared at Diane.
Two male samples.
Charles.
And Ethan.
Somehow connected to Sarah’s embryos.
“Which one fathered Noah?”
Diane looked at the DNA report.
“We don’t know.”
Ryan’s face changed from confusion to horror.
“My father could be Noah’s biological father?”
Diane said nothing.
Sarah’s body went cold.
That would make Noah genetically Ryan’s half-brother.
Not his son.
And Ethan could make Noah Ryan’s nephew.
Either possibility was devastating.
Then Sarah remembered the hospital label.
Baby B.
“What about the other baby?”
Diane froze.
Ryan whispered, “Baby A.”
Diane looked at the door.
Sarah stood.
“Where is my other child?”
Diane’s face went pale.
“I don’t know.”
“No.”
Sarah stepped closer.
“You know something.”
Diane shook her head.
“The clinic handled it.”
“Handled what?”
Diane whispered:
“The first baby was taken before you woke up.”
Sarah stopped breathing.
“Taken where?”
“I was told he died.”
Sarah’s eyes filled.
“Was he alive?”
Diane couldn’t answer.
Sarah’s voice became a whisper.
“Was my baby alive?”
May you like
Diane looked at her.
“Yes.”
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