Chapter 7 - THE SECRET ELENA LEFT BEHIND
Gideon stared at the note for a long time.
Elena.
His wife.
The woman he'd loved for nineteen years.
The woman whose death had nearly destroyed him.
He had spent eleven months believing Owen was the final gift she'd left behind.
Now Vivian was suggesting Elena had been involved.
Mallerie watched him carefully.
“You don't have to believe her.”
Gideon looked up.
“I don't.”
But his voice lacked certainty.
Rebecca examined the note.
“It may be designed to destabilize you.”
Gideon nodded.
“Or it may contain something we need to understand.”
They began reviewing Elena's private records.
Emails.
Medical correspondence.
Financial statements.
Gideon had avoided opening many of them after her death.
It had hurt too much.
Now he sat beside Mallerie while Rebecca read through the files.
They discovered that Elena had become suspicious of New Horizons Family Services months before her accident.
She had questioned the clinic's records.
Requested independent testing.
And contacted Julian Mercer.
Mallerie's dead fiancé.
Mallerie stared.
“Julian knew Elena?”
Gideon nodded slowly.
“Apparently.”
Rebecca opened another email.
It was from Elena to Julian.
I don't believe the agency is being honest about the embryos. Please don't tell Vivian we're investigating.
Gideon's face changed.
“Elena knew Vivian was involved.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Possibly.”
The next message was dated two days before Elena's accident.
If anything happens to me, make sure Gideon knows the truth.
Mallerie felt cold.
She looked at Gideon.
He was staring at the screen.
His hands trembled.
“Her accident,” he whispered.
Rebecca remained silent.
Gideon looked up.
“Was it really an accident?”
The room fell still.
Investigators reopened the files connected to Elena's crash.
They also reviewed Julian Mercer's boating accident.
Two deaths.
Both connected to the same fertility program.
Both occurring shortly after questions were raised.
Mallerie sat beside Gideon that night.
Neither spoke for a long time.
Then he whispered:
“I thought Owen was the last piece of Elena.”
Mallerie looked at him.
“And now?”
He stared toward the nursery.
“Now I don't know what he is.”
Mallerie's expression hardened.
“He's a child.”
Gideon turned.
She continued.
“He's not a piece of anyone. Not Elena. Not me. Not you.”
Her voice shook.
“He's a little boy who deserves to be loved without carrying our grief.”
Gideon stared at her.
Then nodded slowly.
“You're right.”
Mallerie looked toward the nursery.
May you like
Owen was asleep.
And for the first time, she understood that discovering the truth would not automatically tell them how to become a family.
