Chapter 8 - He Found Out
I stared at the message until Nina took the phone from my hand.
“Do not answer.”
“How does he know?”
Samuel asked the better question.
“Who knew?”
My doctor.
Nina.
Samuel.
Me.
And the ultrasound technician.
Then I remembered Dr. Cole’s affidavit.
“He has access through the clinic.”
Nina was already dialing.
Within twenty minutes, Hawthorne confirmed someone using Victoria’s old family-contact credentials had accessed my chart that morning.
The credentials should have been inactive for years.
They weren’t.
My phone rang again.
Ryan.
This time Nina answered.
“Mr. Vance, this is Madeline’s counsel.”
“Put my wife on.”
“No.”
“That’s my child.”
I pressed my hand against my stomach.
Nina’s voice stayed flat.
“You filed for divorce before learning of the pregnancy.”
“I’m withdrawing it.”
I looked at her.
She muted the call.
“He can try.”
“Why would he?”
Samuel answered.
“Because divorce initiated by him terminates Vance management rights. A living heir terminates them too. He needs you married and cooperative now.”
I laughed without humor.
“So yesterday I was disposable.”
“Today,” Nina said, “you’re the only door he still has.”
She unmuted.
Ryan was shouting.
“Madeline cannot keep my baby from me!”
I took the phone.
“You threw me out before you knew.”
“I made a mistake.”
“No. You made a plan.”
“I love you.”
That finally broke something.
Not my heart.
The last excuse I had left for him.
“Then tell me why your mother had access to my fertility records.”
Silence.
“Tell me why you hid your infertility report.”
More silence.
“Tell me what happened to my father.”
His breath caught.
Just once.
But I heard it.
“You know something,” I whispered.
He hung up.
Seconds later, Elise texted me a photo.
Victoria was in Ryan’s home office feeding documents into a fireplace.
One page was only half burned.
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CARTER - MERCER LEDGER TRANSFERS.
