Chapter 13 - Jasper’s NameMalcolm stared.
“No.”
Eleanor looked sick.
“Malcolm…”
“No.”
“Listen.”
“Jasper is our son.”
“Yes.”
“We were there when he was born.”
“Yes.”
“Then why would he be on Bright Harbor’s list?”
“Because your father used the program.”
Malcolm stepped back.
“What?”
Eleanor began crying.
“Not to steal him.”
“Then what?”
“To hide him.”
Malcolm felt cold.
“From whom?”
“His biological father.”
Silence.
Jasper was Malcolm’s son.
At least Malcolm believed so.
He looked at Eleanor.
“What are you saying?”
“Jasper is yours.”
Malcolm’s shoulders loosened only slightly.
“Then explain.”
“My pregnancy was complicated.”
“I remember.”
“Your father was terrified Adrian would use the baby.”
“Why?”
“Because I was already investigating.”
Malcolm stared.
“So Dad changed Jasper’s records?”
“Yes.”
“To what?”
“A protected identity track.”
“Why?”
“If Adrian tried to take him through court manipulation, there would be competing records.”
Malcolm laughed bitterly.
“The same system they used to steal children.”
“Yes.”
“My father used it.”
“To protect Jasper.”
“And that makes it okay?”
“No.”
Good.
Eleanor continued.
“That’s why Jasper appears on the list.”
“Under what name?”
She hesitated.
“Jacob Mercer.”
Malcolm frowned.
Mercer?
“No relation to Melissa.”
“No.”
Then Grant reviewed Adrian’s flash drive.
Jasper’s real birth record.
Protected duplicate.
Court notes.
But another line appeared:
Biological paternity: unresolved.
Malcolm’s heart stopped again.
He looked at Eleanor.
“What is that?”
She went pale.
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t.”
“I swear.”
“Was there another man?”
“No.”
Grant looked uncomfortable.
“Could it be administrative?”
“Maybe.”
But Malcolm needed certainty.
DNA test.
He demanded it.
Eleanor agreed instantly.
That helped.
Hours later, preliminary rapid testing:
Malcolm was Jasper’s biological father.
He exhaled for the first time.
Then another result.
Asher.
Malcolm stared at Grant.
“What?”
“Asher’s sample was compared too.”
“Why?”
“Because his records are compromised.”
Malcolm’s stomach tightened.
“Am I his father?”
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes.
Thank God.
Then Grant continued.
“But there is something unusual.”
Of course.
“What?”
“Asher shares mitochondrial markers with…”
She stopped.
Malcolm frowned.
“With whom?”
“Eleanor.”
Silence.
Malcolm stared.
“That’s impossible.”
Eleanor looked equally stunned.
Mitochondrial DNA comes from mother.
Claire gave birth to Asher.
How could Eleanor’s maternal DNA appear?
Grant said:
“The rapid result may be wrong.”
They ordered full analysis.
The answer changed everything.
Claire had carried an embryo created from Malcolm and Eleanor.
Malcolm sat speechless.
Eleanor covered her mouth.
Years earlier, before Jasper’s birth, Malcolm and Eleanor had undergone IVF.
Several embryos remained frozen.
Malcolm thought they had been destroyed after Eleanor’s presumed death.
They weren’t.
Bright Harbor-associated personnel accessed the fertility clinic.
One embryo was transferred to Claire.
Without Malcolm knowing.
Without Eleanor knowing.
Claire had carried their biological child.
Asher.
Malcolm stared at the report.
“Claire knew?”
Eleanor whispered:
“I don’t know.”
Grant found a letter inside Claire’s hidden evidence.
Asher is Malcolm and Eleanor’s biological son. I learned after the transfer. Adrian told me it would bind Malcolm to me and destroy Eleanor if she ever returned.
Malcolm felt sick.
Claire continued:
I wanted to terminate the pregnancy when I learned the truth. Then I heard his heartbeat.
Malcolm closed his eyes.
I chose to carry him because he was innocent.
Tears fell.
I planned to tell Malcolm after he was born.
She never got the chance.
Adrian had engineered a family like paperwork.
People as pieces.
Malcolm looked at Eleanor.
“Asher is our son.”
She cried.
“Yes.”
But then grief entered her face.
“And Claire was his mother too.”
Malcolm nodded.
“She carried him.”
“She protected him.”
“Yes.”
No biological truth erased that.
Claire had mothered him before birth.
Loved him.
Died trying to keep him safe.
Then Adrian asked for Malcolm.
Not police.
Malcolm.
Grant refused initially.
Then prosecutors approved a monitored interview.
Adrian sat behind glass.
Older.
Tired.
Still composed.
Malcolm entered.
Adrian smiled faintly.
“You finally know.”
Malcolm sat.
“Why Asher?”
“Insurance.”
Malcolm’s jaw tightened.
“Explain.”
“If Eleanor returned, you would be forced to choose which wife’s truth to believe.”
“You used a baby.”
“I created a bridge.”
“You stole an embryo.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“Your father stole children’s identities for years.”
“He was wrong.”
“Yes.”
“So was I.”
The easy admission surprised Malcolm.
“Then why come back?”
Adrian leaned forward.
“Because I’m not the person you should fear.”
Malcolm almost laughed.
“Convenient.”
Adrian’s smile vanished.
“The list wasn’t mine.”
“What?”
“The child system existed before Bright Harbor.”
Malcolm stared.
“Who created it?”
Adrian looked toward the one-way mirror.
May you like
Then back.
“Your father.”
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