Chapter 13 - The Stolen Consent Form
The fertility clinic searched its archives.
A scanned copy of Natalie’s missing consent form still existed.
Marcus received it that afternoon.
He read every line.
Natalie had authorized Marcus to use the embryos after her death.
But she had added a handwritten condition.
If Marcus could not raise the child himself, guardianship should pass to Natalie’s sister, Rebecca.
Not Victoria.
Never Victoria.
Marcus almost laughed at the absurdity.
Of course Natalie had never mentioned Victoria.
Why would she?
But Detective Cole saw another implication.
“If Victoria stole the original form, she may have believed she could change the guardianship arrangement later.”
Marcus frowned.
“How?”
“Forgery.”
Cole placed another document on the table.
Police had recovered it from Victoria’s mountain cabin.
A draft guardianship agreement.
Marcus’s signature had been copied.
Natalie’s signature had been forged.
The document named Victoria Crane as the preferred guardian of any child born from the embryos.
Marcus stared at it.
“She was planning this before my son was born.”
“Probably before your wife died.”
The room became silent.
Elena stood near the window.
She had been struggling with one question.
“Why push the stroller into the pool if she wanted the baby?”
Cole answered.
“She may not have intended for him to die.”
Marcus looked up sharply.
The detective continued.
“The stroller entered the shallow side.”
“That means nothing.”
“It may mean she expected Elena to rescue him.”
Elena went still.
Cole pointed toward the video.
“Victoria watched Elena’s routines.”
“She knew Elena could swim.”
“She knew the patio staff were nearby.”
“She may have wanted a frightening incident, not a death.”
Marcus’s expression hardened.
“She shoved a nine-month-old baby into a pool.”
“I’m not minimizing it.”
Cole shook his head.
“I’m saying her objective may have been to frame Elena.”
Elena looked sick.
“And if I hadn’t seen the stroller?”
Marcus turned toward her.
Nobody answered.
The child might have died.
Victoria had gambled with a baby’s life to manipulate Marcus.
That truth was unbearable.
His phone rang.
Rebecca.
Natalie’s younger sister lived in Boston.
Marcus had not told her everything yet.
Now he did.
She listened silently.
Then she began crying.
“I warned Natalie about her.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
“You knew?”
“Only a little.”
Rebecca explained that Victoria once appeared outside Natalie’s apartment late at night.
She had been holding flowers.
Natalie refused to let her inside.
Victoria remained in the hallway for nearly an hour.
After that, Rebecca insisted Natalie report the stalking.
Marcus felt another wave of guilt.
“You should have told me.”
“Natalie made me promise not to.”
“Why?”
“She said you were already terrified of losing her.”
Marcus had no answer.
Rebecca’s voice softened.
“She was trying to protect you.”
He looked at Elena.
That phrase stayed with him.
Natalie had protected him by staying silent.
Elena had tried to protect her own family by staying silent.
Both silences had allowed Victoria to move closer.
Marcus finally understood something.
Trust was not simply believing someone.
It was creating a place where they could safely tell the truth.
He had failed Elena in that.
Later that evening, an email arrived from an anonymous address.
Attached was a scan of Natalie’s original consent form.
The missing original.
Someone had photographed it.
The message contained one sentence.
Ask Marcus what happened the night Natalie died.
Elena read it over his shoulder.
Her face changed.
Marcus stared at the screen.
May you like
Because suddenly the story was no longer only about his son.
It was about Natalie too.
