Chapter 3 - THE DOCTOR WHO ERASED A CHILD
Mallerie remembered Dr. Samuel Kessler's face with terrible clarity.
His silver-rimmed glasses.
His perfectly trimmed beard.
The way he had stood beside her hospital bed without looking directly into her eyes.
I'm very sorry, Miss Reed.
She remembered asking to see her son.
He had told her the baby had been transferred to the morgue.
She remembered begging.
He had said it would be better to remember the child as she'd first seen him.
Thirty seconds.
That was all he'd allowed her.
Thirty seconds of motherhood before the world took her son away.
At dawn, Gideon's attorney, Rebecca Shaw, arrived at the penthouse.
She was a tall woman in her early fifties with sharp eyes and the exhausted expression of someone accustomed to cleaning up powerful men's mistakes.
She reviewed the documents.
Then looked at Mallerie.
“Did you receive independent legal advice before signing anything?”
“I didn't sign anything.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Understood. Did anyone discuss surrogacy, adoption, or parental relinquishment with you?”
“No.”
“Was the pregnancy planned?”
Mallerie hesitated.
“Yes.”
Gideon looked toward her.
She avoided his eyes.
Rebecca continued gently.
“Would you be comfortable telling me about the child's father?”
Mallerie stared at the table.
“His name was Julian Mercer.”
Gideon's expression changed.
He knew that name.
Julian Mercer had been a physician and researcher connected to one of Gideon's charitable medical foundations.
He had died in a boating accident fourteen months earlier.
Before Mallerie knew she was pregnant.
Gideon leaned forward.
“You knew Julian Mercer?”
Mallerie looked up.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He was my fiancé.”
Silence.
Rebecca glanced between them.
Gideon's voice dropped.
“Julian worked for my foundation.”
Mallerie froze.
“What?”
“He was involved in a fertility research program. He resigned shortly before his death.”
Mallerie's hands went cold.
Julian had never told her that.
He had said he worked in reproductive medicine.
He had said he wanted to help families.
He had said they would marry in the spring.
Then his boat had capsized during a storm.
His body had been recovered two days later.
Mallerie had buried him while unknowingly carrying their son.
Now Gideon was telling her that Julian had been connected to the very world that had somehow taken her baby.
Rebecca looked at both of them.
“We need to establish what happened before making assumptions.”
Gideon nodded.
But his face was grim.
The DNA samples were collected that afternoon by an independent clinician.
Mallerie watched every step.
The clinician documented identities, sealed the samples, and arranged transport to an accredited laboratory.
Gideon submitted his own sample.
Rebecca explained that the results would help determine whether Owen was biologically related to either adult, but that the legal questions would require separate proceedings.
Mallerie listened.
She nodded.
She tried to appear calm.
Inside, she was unraveling.
That evening, she returned to her apartment with two security officers stationed discreetly outside.
She insisted on sleeping in her own bed.
Gideon did not argue.
At 11:40 p.m., her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A woman's voice whispered:
“If you want to know what happened to your baby, stop trusting Gideon Vale.”
Mallerie sat upright.
“Who is this?”
The woman was crying.
“They're going to kill me.”
“Who?”
Silence.
Then:
“Ask him what happened to the first embryo.”
The call ended.
Mallerie stared at the phone.
The first embryo.
She had no idea what that meant.
But when she called Gideon and repeated the words, he went completely silent.
Then he said:
“Mallerie, lock your door.”
May you like
“Why?”
“Because someone just told you something they were never supposed to know.”
