Chapter 10 - THE PREGNANCY THEY NEEDED
Claire replayed the recording twice.
Then once more.
Then make sure she is.
It sounded monstrous.
Derek’s attorney immediately argued context.
Maybe Patricia meant fertility treatment.
Maybe family planning.
Maybe nothing coercive.
Claire refused to leap.
She remembered that period.
Five years earlier, she and Derek had been discussing children.
She had wanted to wait.
Derek suddenly became obsessed with starting a family.
He booked fertility consultations.
Tracked ovulation.
Talked constantly about “legacy.”
Claire thought it was pressure from aging parents.
Now she knew about Rachel’s paternity claim.
He needed a marital child after an outside child threatened the branch structure.
Did he manipulate her medically?
No evidence.
Not yet.
Then Naomi found clinic records.
Derek had attended a consultation alone.
Question submitted:
How quickly can pregnancy be achieved if female partner is hesitant about assisted options?
Creepy.
Not illegal.
Then another note.
Patricia had paid for a fertility concierge package.
Claire had never used it.
Why?
Because she became pregnant naturally later but miscarried.
The memory hit hard.
Derek had been strangely cold afterward.
She had thought grief looked different on him.
Maybe it was calculation.
Then he apologized through counsel for “past pressure.”
Not confession.
Strategy.
Meanwhile, the Miami project defaulted fully.
Patricia faced lender claims.
Derek’s secret bonus account was frozen.
Walsh Child Administration became insolvent.
The ridiculous fifty-thousand-dollar invoice that started the story now looked almost pathetic.
Then Claire asked a different question.
“If Derek loses management rights anyway, who controls the children’s trust?”
Naomi checked.
Independent trustee appointed by family council.
Current nominee:
Patricia Walsh.
Claire laughed.
Of course.
Even after everything, the structure circled back to her.
Then Naomi read the eligibility clause.
A trustee involved in concealment, fraud, or material conflict could be disqualified.
Good.
But disqualification required proof.
Patricia began fighting for the role.
She argued all settlements were lawful privacy measures.
She was already positioning herself as the responsible elder who could protect the children from Derek.
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Claire understood the next war.
Patricia was preparing to survive her own conspiracy by becoming the solution to it.
