Chapter 12 - The Secret Natalie Kept
David survived.
He had been struck from behind.
Doctors expected a full recovery.
Security footage from a neighboring property captured a black SUV leaving Marcus’s estate.
The license plate was stolen.
But one camera recorded the driver.
Daniel.
Victoria sat in the passenger seat.
They were still together.
Detective Cole focused on recovering Natalie’s missing letter.
Marcus focused on what it might contain beyond the obvious.
He remembered Natalie’s words.
She doesn’t love people normally.
She becomes them.
There had been more documents in the cedar box.
Police had photographed everything before Victoria stole it.
Cole reviewed the images.
One university report contained an attached psychological evaluation.
Victoria had been ordered to attend counseling after stalking complaints.
The report described identity fixation.
Obsessive imitation.
Unstable attachment.
Fear of abandonment.
Then Cole found a handwritten note from Natalie.
Marcus had not noticed it earlier.
It was written on the back of an old photograph.
Victoria isn’t trying to take Marcus from me.
She is trying to take my place.
Marcus read it twice.
Elena sat across the table.
“What does that mean?”
Marcus slowly shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
But he did.
At least partly.
Victoria had copied Natalie’s perfume.
Marcus remembered complimenting it once.
She had started wearing similar colors.
She learned Natalie’s favorite recipes.
She supported the same charities.
She even cut her hair in a style Natalie used years earlier.
Marcus had dismissed each coincidence separately.
Together, they were terrifying.
Elena looked at another photograph.
Natalie stood beside Victoria outside the university laboratory.
A third woman appeared partly cropped from the frame.
Elena pointed.
“Who is that?”
Marcus leaned closer.
“I don’t know.”
Cole searched the university archive.
The woman’s name was Dr. Caroline Ames.
She had worked in reproductive medicine before joining the fertility clinic Marcus and Natalie later used.
Marcus stared at the screen.
“That clinic stored our embryos.”
Cole nodded.
“Did Victoria know?”
“I don’t know.”
Then Elena remembered the nursery videos.
“Victoria told the baby that Rachel gave birth to the life she should have had.”
Marcus looked at her.
The sentence suddenly carried a different meaning.
Cole contacted Dr. Ames.
She was retired and living in Florida.
When she heard Victoria Crane’s name, she became silent.
Then she asked.
“Is Natalie alive?”
Marcus answered softly.
“No.”
Dr. Ames exhaled.
“I’m sorry.”
Cole asked about Victoria.
The doctor hesitated.
“There was an incident.”
“What incident?”
“Victoria attempted to access patient files years ago.”
Marcus went cold.
“Whose files?”
The doctor paused.
“Natalie’s.”
Marcus gripped the table.
“Why?”
“She said Natalie had promised to help her understand fertility preservation.”
“That wasn’t true.”
“I know.”
The clinic terminated Victoria’s volunteer privileges.
But before leaving, she accessed part of Natalie’s file.
Including information about the frozen embryos.
Marcus stood.
“She knew.”
Cole nodded.
“She knew before your wife died that those embryos existed.”
Dr. Ames added one final detail.
“There was also a missing consent form.”
“What consent form?”
“One related to embryo disposition.”
Marcus froze.
“What did it say?”
The doctor’s voice became cautious.
“It contained instructions about what should happen if Natalie died.”
Marcus remembered signing his own paperwork.
He had never seen Natalie’s separate form.
Dr. Ames continued.
“I always assumed it was misplaced.”
Marcus looked at Elena.
May you like
Now he knew better.
Victoria had taken it.
