Chapter 6 - Claire MercerWe found Claire Mercer in a small coastal town three hours from the city.
She refused to let us inside.
Then I said Daniel's name.
The door opened.
Claire looked directly at Marcus.
“I knew you would come.”
Her eyes moved to my stomach.
“You're carrying him.”
I nodded.
Her face crumpled.
“Then they succeeded.”
“Succeeded at what?” Marcus asked.
Claire stepped aside.
Noah was sitting at the kitchen table, drawing with colored pencils.
He looked up.
His eyes met mine.
He stared at my stomach.
Then he quietly asked,
“Is the baby coming soon?”
I forced a smile.
“Yes.”
He looked relieved.
“Then my daddy was right.”
My heart stopped.
“Your daddy?”
“Daniel.”
Marcus sat down.
“Is Daniel alive?”
Claire looked at him.
“Yes.”
Marcus stood abruptly.
“Where?”
“He left.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“Why?”
“Because he knew they were close.”
Claire brought out a box.
Inside were medical files.
Original ones.
She showed us records proving that seven months ago, Evelyn had arranged an embryo transfer.
But Claire wasn't the intended mother.
She had agreed to carry the child as a surrogate.
Then the plan changed.
“Your family wanted the baby registered as Marcus’s biological child,” Claire said.
“But why?”
Claire looked at me.
“Because the embryo was created from Daniel's genetic material and Marcus's genetic material.”
I felt sick.
“Why mix them?”
“They wanted to create an heir with two bloodlines.”
Marcus frowned.
“That makes no sense.”
Claire nodded.
“It does when your father spent twenty years building a private dynasty based on genetic succession.”
I stared at her.
“My father?”
Marcus’s father had died four years earlier.
Heart attack.
Or so we believed.
Claire opened another file.
His medical record contained a hidden note.
He had been undergoing experimental genetic treatment.
He had been afraid of a hereditary disease.
The Vale family needed a child with specific genetic markers.
The embryo had been engineered to carry them.
Marcus looked horrified.
“So my child was created as an asset.”
Claire nodded.
“That was the plan.”
“What about Khloe?”
“They needed a woman they could legally bind to the child.”
My blood ran cold.
“Me.”
Claire nodded.
“You were selected because your family had no political influence, no legal protection, and no idea what the Vales were doing.”
I stared at Marcus.
“My own husband?”
Claire shook her head.
“Marcus wasn't the architect.”
He looked relieved for half a second.
Then Claire said,
“But he was never supposed to know.”
The room went silent.
Marcus looked at her.
“Who knew?”
“Evelyn.”
“Who else?”
Claire's eyes shifted toward Noah.
“Isabella.”
I remembered the red heel.
Claire continued.
“And one more person.”
She reached into the box.
Pulled out a photo.
A young woman stood beside Evelyn.
I recognized her immediately.
She was our obstetrician.
Dr. Serena Ward.
My doctor.
The woman Isabella had named.
Claire whispered,
“She designed the transfer.”
Marcus grabbed the photo.
“We're going back to the hospital.”
Claire caught his arm.
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because Serena knows the camera exists.”
My blood turned cold.
May you like
Claire looked at me.
“And she will destroy the footage tonight.”
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