Chapter 6 - The Procedure She Never Remembered
For twelve hours, Eliza insisted the records were fabricated.
Then she remembered the night.
Four months earlier.
A Harland & Wilson retreat in Boston.
Dinner.
Champagne.
A headache.
Mark walking her back toward the hotel elevator.
Then nothing until the next morning.
She had awakened in bed wearing the previous night’s clothes with a small bruise near the inside of her elbow.
Mark told her she had fainted.
She believed him.
Now she sat inside Dominic’s jet with both hands wrapped around a glass of water she could not drink.
“I was unconscious.”
Dominic stood across the cabin.
His face was pale with controlled rage.
“We don’t know what happened.”
“You know exactly what might have happened.”
“Eliza.”
“Someone took me somewhere.”
“We’ll investigate before assuming.”
She looked toward him.
“You threatened strangers because somebody stole money from you, but suddenly you believe in patience?”
His jaw tightened.
“Because this is your body. I am not going to tell you what happened without proof.”
That stopped her anger.
For once, he had chosen the right words.
Back in New York, Dr. Foster examined the records.
They discovered the procedure had not occurred in Boston.
A sedative had been administered there.
Eliza was transported for ninety minutes to a private clinic in Connecticut.
Security footage had conveniently been deleted.
But one employee still remembered.
A nurse named Helen Price.
Dominic found her within six hours.
Helen was terrified.
She met them in a church parking lot outside New Haven.
“I thought the patient consented.”
Eliza stared at her.
“I was unconscious.”
Helen began crying.
“They had paperwork.”
“Who brought me?”
“A man.”
“What man?”
Helen shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Eliza showed her Mark’s photograph.
Helen immediately recognized him.
“Yes.”
Eliza closed her eyes.
Mark.
Dominic stepped forward.
“Was he alone?”
“No.”
“Who was with him?”
Helen looked toward Dominic.
Her face changed.
“You.”
Dominic went still.
“No.”
“You looked different. Beard. Longer hair. But…”
She stared at him.
Dominic pulled out his phone and found a photograph.
Gabriel.
Helen pointed.
“That man.”
Eliza’s stomach dropped.
“Gabriel brought me?”
“Yes.”
Dominic looked stunned.
“What procedure?”
Helen’s voice trembled.
“Embryo transfer.”
The world seemed to stop.
Eliza whispered:
“Embryo?”
“Yes.”
“I wasn’t pregnant naturally.”
Helen shook her head.
Eliza gripped the car door.
“Whose embryo?”
“I don’t know.”
Dominic’s face became terrifyingly calm.
“Find out.”
The answer arrived that evening.
The embryo had been created using Eliza’s egg.
The father’s biological sample belonged to a man identified only by code.
CST-G2.
Dominic saw the code and turned pale.
Eliza already understood.
“Gabriel?”
Luca shook his head slowly.
“No. Gabriel would be G2.”
Eliza stared.
“You mean…”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“My brother.”
The child she carried was Gabriel Castellano’s biological child.
Silence consumed the room.
Eliza’s first reaction was revulsion.
Not toward the baby.
Toward everyone who had violated her choices.
“Why?”
No one knew.
Then the impossible became worse.
The genetics report showed the sample attributed to Gabriel had been collected eight years earlier.
Before his supposed death.
The embryo had been created recently.
Someone had preserved his genetic material.
For exactly this purpose.
Eliza stood.
“I want this pregnancy to stop being evidence.”
Dominic nodded.
“Then it stops.”
“What?”
“You decide what happens next. Nobody else.”
She stared at him.
Not Mark.
Not Gabriel.
Not Crown.
Not the Castellanos.
Her.
The realization broke something loose inside her.
She began crying.
Dominic did not touch her.
He stayed close enough that she could choose.
After several seconds, Eliza stepped into him herself.
His arms came around her carefully.
Nothing romantic.
Nothing possessive.
Just human.
“I hate all of them,” she whispered.
“I know.”
“I hate Mark.”
“I know.”
“I still love him.”
“I know.”
That made her cry harder.
The next morning, Gabriel called.
Not from an unknown number.
From Mark’s phone.
Dominic answered.
“Gabriel?”
A long silence.
Then:
“Hello, brother.”
Dominic sat down.
Luca turned away.
Eliza stared.
Gabriel’s voice was older than she expected.
Calm.
Tired.
“You’re alive.”
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
“Not safe enough.”
“Did you put an embryo inside Eliza?”
Gabriel went silent.
Dominic’s face hardened.
“Answer me.”
“No.”
Eliza stepped forward.
“Then who did?”
Gabriel heard her voice.
“Eliza?”
“You owe me the truth.”
“I owe you more than that.”
“Start with this.”
Gabriel breathed slowly.
“The embryo was not supposed to be transferred.”
“Then why did Mark bring me there?”
“He didn’t know what they were doing.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Mark thought he was taking you to a private medical facility after you collapsed. He was drugged twenty minutes after arriving.”
Eliza stared.
“Who arranged it?”
“The person who controls Crown.”
Dominic leaned toward the phone.
“Who?”
Gabriel’s next words changed everything.
“Our mother.”
Dominic stood so violently the chair fell behind him.
“My mother is dead.”
“No,” Gabriel said.
“She isn’t.”
Dominic stared into nothing.
Gabriel continued.
“She built Crown after Father tried to have her killed.”
“No.”
“She survived.”
Dominic’s face seemed to lose years and gain them simultaneously.
“What does she want?”
“Eliza’s inheritance.”
“Why create another heir?”
“She didn’t.”
Gabriel paused.
“I did.”
Eliza stopped breathing.
Gabriel continued before Dominic could interrupt.
“Eight years ago, Sofia and I tried to have another child. We created embryos. Crown stole the genetic records after I disappeared.”
“Then the embryo—”
“Was created for Sofia.”
Eliza’s hand moved to her stomach.
Gabriel’s voice broke for the first time.
“Someone took it.”
The baby inside Eliza had been meant for another woman.
Before anyone could speak, Gabriel whispered:
“And now Crown wants both of you dead because this child legally connects every branch of the Castellano inheritance.”
The call cut off.
Ten seconds later, alarms began sounding throughout Dominic’s estate.
Luca looked at the security monitor.
“West gate breach.”
Dominic grabbed Eliza’s arm.
“Safe room.”
May you like
Then all the lights went out.
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