Chapter 7 - The Fertility File
I drove to the clinic before I could lose my nerve.
The building looked exactly the same as it had twelve years earlier.
Same beige walls. Same soft music designed for people receiving bad news.
Dr. Patel met me in a consultation room.
“I’m sorry,” she said before I sat down.
“For what?”
She opened my archived chart.
During our fourth fertility cycle, David had undergone additional testing.
The results showed he was fertile.
That was not the surprise.
The surprise was a genetic counseling note stating David had disclosed “one previous biological child.”
I stopped breathing.
“Did I see this?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“He requested privacy regarding prior paternity.”
“We were married.”
“I know.”
The room narrowed.
For years I had blamed my body for every failed cycle.
David had held me while I cried.
Angela had sat beside me in waiting rooms.
Both of them knew Tyler was his son.
Neither told me.
Dr. Patel slid over one more form.
“This is what concerned me today.”
It was a request to transfer my old treatment records to a psychiatric consultant.
Dated two months ago.
Signed by me.
Again, not my signature.
The receiving doctor was listed as Dr. Samuel Kern.
I called Evelyn from the parking lot.
“They’re building a record that I’m unstable.”
“Yes,” she said. “And now we know why.”
“If they can make me look incompetent—”
“They may be trying to create leverage over the trust before your birthday.”
A black SUV pulled into the row behind me.
David’s truck.
He got out.
I ducked lower in my seat.
He walked into the clinic carrying an envelope.
My phone buzzed.
A message from Angela.
We need to talk tonight. It’s about your health.
I stared at it.
Then Daniel called.
“Rebecca, don’t go home.”
“Why?”
“Martin Cole just filed something in county court.”
“What?”
May you like
“A petition for emergency financial guardianship.”
The proposed guardian was David.
