Chapter 1 - THE IMPOSSIBLE BABY
“Evelyn, there's something you need to know about the people who gave me this diagnosis.”
Luca Varenna stood behind his desk, holding a medical folder that looked as though it had been opened a thousand times.
His hands were trembling.
I'd never seen my husband afraid.
Not when an armed man interrupted one of his meetings.
Not when his shipping company lost fourteen million dollars in a single afternoon.
Not even when his father threatened to remove him from the family business.
But now, standing in our Boston penthouse, Luca looked terrified.
“Tell me,” I whispered.
He opened the folder.
Inside were medical records from twelve years earlier.
A hospital discharge summary.
A surgical report.
And a letter signed by a physician named Dr. Charles Whitmore.
Luca pointed to the final page.
“After my accident, they told me the damage was permanent.”
I nodded.
“I know.”
“They said I would never father a child.”
His voice became quieter.
“My father arranged every appointment. He chose the surgeons. He handled the insurance. He even decided when I was well enough to leave the hospital.”
I looked at the documents.
“Why?”
Luca swallowed.
“Because I was twenty-three, and I trusted him.”
He placed the folder on his desk.
“For twelve years, I believed I was infertile.”
I rested my hand over my stomach.
“And now?”
His eyes moved toward my hand.
“Now my wife is pregnant.”
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then Luca approached me.
Slowly.
Carefully.
As though he was afraid a sudden movement might make everything disappear.
“Evelyn.”
I looked up.
“Have you seen a doctor?”
“Not yet.”
“Then we should.”
I nodded.
His jaw tightened.
“And we need to find out whether those records were genuine.”
My stomach turned.
“Luca, are you asking whether the baby is yours?”
He stopped.
For one terrible moment, I thought he would say yes.
Instead, he shook his head.
“No.”
My eyes filled.
He stepped closer.
“I'm asking whether somebody lied to me.”
May you like
He looked toward the old medical folder.
“And if they did, I want to know why.”
