Chapter 10 - TWO HEARTBEATS
Nobody had known.
Not Alexander.
Not Vanessa.
Not even Cynthia.
The ultrasound Vanessa carried showed one fetus.
But the image had been selected deliberately.
Elena was carrying twins.
Mercer later confirmed that early scans showed two embryos implanted.
One had been hidden from Vanessa because Julian did not trust her.
The plan had always contained a second heir.
A second insurance policy.
But as medics examined Elena inside Whitmore Terminal, they discovered something terrifying.
Only one fetal heartbeat was immediately detectable.
Alexander was finally allowed inside after officers secured the central hall.
He ran toward the medical room.
Elena heard footsteps.
She looked toward the doorway.
For a moment, neither moved.
Three years separated them.
Three years of grief.
Three years of lies.
Alexander stopped several feet away.
“Elena.”
She stared at him.
His hair was grayer.
His face older.
He wore no tie.
There was dried blood on one sleeve from brushing against an injured officer outside.
Elena began crying.
“You came.”
Alexander dropped to his knees beside her.
“I’m sorry.”
Those were his first words.
Not “I love you.”
Not “you’re safe.”
“I’m sorry.”
Elena reached for his face.
Her hand trembled.
“You believed I died.”
“Yes.”
“I tried to leave clues.”
“I found them.”
“Too late.”
Alexander closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
He did not defend himself.
Elena stared at him for another second.
Then another contraction hit.
She screamed.
The doctor beside her spoke urgently.
“We need transport now.”
Medics moved Elena onto a stretcher.
Alexander stayed beside her.
As they carried her through the terminal, Elena suddenly gripped his hand.
“The second baby.”
“I know.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You don’t.”
Alexander leaned closer.
“What?”
“Julian said one belongs to him.”
Alexander frowned.
“That makes no sense.”
Elena struggled to breathe.
“He said he changed something.”
Then she was moved into the ambulance.
At the hospital, doctors confirmed twins.
One baby was in distress.
An emergency delivery began immediately.
Alexander waited outside the operating room.
Daniel arrived.
So did Keller.
I remained with Sophie by phone until my sister brought her to the hospital lobby later that morning.
Sophie carried a handmade card.
She had written:
I HOPE YOU AND THE REAL BABIES ARE OKAY.
Alexander read it.
He laughed quietly.
Then cried.
After forty-three minutes, a surgeon entered.
Alexander stood.
“Mrs. Whitmore is stable.”
He nearly collapsed with relief.
“And the babies?”
“Two boys.”
Alexander covered his mouth.
“Both alive?”
The surgeon nodded.
“One requires respiratory support.”
“The second is stronger.”
“But both are alive.”
Alexander sat down.
Daniel hugged him.
For several minutes, the entire conspiracy seemed distant.
Two children had survived it.
Elena had survived it.
Then the surgeon’s expression became uncertain.
“There is an issue.”
Alexander looked up.
“What?”
“The medical team ran emergency blood typing.”
“One infant’s blood type is inconsistent with the genetic information supplied for you and Mrs. Whitmore.”
Daniel’s face changed.
Alexander stared.
“You mean one isn’t ours?”
“We cannot establish parentage from blood type alone.”
“We need DNA testing.”
Keller immediately remembered Elena’s words.
Julian said one belongs to him.
Alexander felt cold.
“How could that happen?”
The surgeon shook his head.
“That is a question for the fertility clinic.”
Keller went directly to Mercer.
Under pressure, Mercer finally admitted another secret.
He had not performed every procedure.
After the embryos were transferred from the original clinic, Julian brought in a second fertility specialist.
Dr. Samuel Cross.
Julian’s son.
A cousin Alexander had not seen in fifteen years.
The second embryo used in Elena’s procedure may not have been Alexander and Elena’s at all.
Daniel whispered.
“Julian created his own heir.”
Keller nodded.
“If one child was biologically connected to Julian’s branch, he could challenge the succession structure.”
Alexander looked toward the operating-room doors.
Two newborn boys.
One certainly his.
The other potentially created as part of another plan.
He shook his head.
“They are both Elena’s babies.”
Keller looked at him.
“Yes.”
“And neither one is responsible for any of this.”
“No.”
Alexander took a breath.
“Then until a court says otherwise, nobody treats them differently.”
Daniel watched him.
Something in Alexander had changed.
Before anyone could say more, Keller’s phone rang.
Julian had escaped the terminal.
A stolen vehicle had been found near the Delaware River.
Inside was Dr. Samuel Cross.
Dead.
May you like
Julian had eliminated his own son.
And the embryo records were gone.
