Chapter 6
I read Damon's message three times.
Make sure Claire never learns who he is.
Dad sat beside me.
His voice was barely controlled.
“I want Damon's lawyer to explain this.”
“He probably won't,” Detective Sloan said.
“Then Damon can explain it.”
“He's been advised not to speak.”
I laughed once.
It sounded empty.
“Of course.”
The man who had spent months lying suddenly understood the value of silence.
The hospital discharged me that afternoon.
Dad took me home.
I hesitated at the backyard door.
The kennel was still there.
Police tape hung from the entrance.
Dad noticed where I was looking.
“I'll have it destroyed.”
“No.”
He turned.
“Claire.”
“Not yet.”
I walked closer.
The door was open now.
Sunlight crossed the wooden floor.
Yesterday, I had believed those bars were the worst humiliation Damon could give me.
Now they felt like proof.
He wanted me weak.
Ashamed.
Afraid.
I touched my belly.
He had failed.
Inside the house, everything smelled wrong.
Lacey's perfume lingered upstairs.
My clothing had been removed from the bedroom.
Dad started carrying it back.
“Leave it.”
He looked at me.
“I don't want that room tonight.”
He nodded.
I slept in my childhood bedroom at Dad's house instead.
At 2:13 a.m., someone knocked on the front door.
Dad woke first.
I heard him moving downstairs.
Then his voice.
“What are you doing here?”
A woman answered.
Elaine.
I stepped into the hallway.
Dad was blocking the doorway.
Elaine stood outside holding a folder.
“I need to speak with Claire.”
“No.”
“Robert, this concerns my granddaughter.”
Dad laughed.
“You suddenly care about her?”
“I have always cared.”
I walked downstairs.
Elaine saw me.
“Claire.”
“What do you want?”
She held up the folder.
“To save you from making a terrible mistake.”
“Your son drugged me.”
Her face tightened.
“You don't know that.”
“He forged my signature.”
“Damon panicked.”
“He locked me in a kennel.”
Elaine looked away.
“That was indefensible.”
The word shocked me.
Not because she meant it.
Because it was the first time she admitted he had done anything wrong.
“Why are you here?”
She opened the folder.
Inside were medical documents.
“I know who the biological father is.”
The room went silent.
Dad stepped forward.
“How?”
“Damon told me.”
I stared at her.
“Who?”
Elaine looked directly at me.
“I'll tell you if you withdraw your accusation that he drugged you.”
Dad moved toward the door.
“Get out.”
“Wait.”
He turned toward me.
“Claire, she's bargaining with you.”
“I know.”
Elaine's eyes remained on mine.
“Damon is facing years in prison.”
“He should.”
“He's your husband.”
“Not for long.”
Her expression cracked.
“You can't mean that.”
“I do.”
I had never felt more certain about anything.
Elaine gripped the folder.
“Then you'll never know.”
Dad opened the door wider.
“Leave.”
Elaine stepped outside.
Before Dad could close the door, I said, “The police will find out.”
She stopped.
Her shoulders stiffened.
Then she looked back.
“No, they won't.”
“Why?”
“Because the man Damon chose is dead.”
The air left my lungs.
Dad stared at her.
Elaine immediately seemed to realize she had said too much.
She walked toward her car.
Dad called after her.
“What man?”
She didn't answer.
The car disappeared down the street.
I stood frozen.
Then my phone rang.
Detective Sloan.
“Claire, we found Dr. Vale.”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
Relief hit me.
“Where?”
“He turned himself in through an attorney.”
Dad leaned closer.
“Why?”
Sloan continued.
“Because he heard about Damon's arrest.”
My heartbeat quickened.
“Will he talk?”
“He already started.”
I sat down.
“What did he say?”
Sloan hesitated.
“He says Damon selected the donor himself.”
“Who?”
“He won't identify him until his attorney finishes negotiating.”
I closed my eyes.
Then Sloan added, “But Vale said something else.”
“What?”
“He claims the donor was never supposed to remain anonymous.”
I opened my eyes.
“What does that mean?”
“He says Damon changed the paperwork after the procedure.”
Dad's face hardened.
“Why?”
May you like
Sloan answered.
“Because according to Vale, Damon discovered the donor had left Claire something valuable.”
