Chapter 14 - THE TWINS' FATHER
Rachel nearly fainted when told.
“No.”
The laboratory repeated the test.
Same result.
Robert was Noah and Grace's biological father.
Rachel became physically ill.
She insisted she had never had sexual contact with her brother.
That meant only one possibility.
Her reproductive material had been manipulated.
Investigators seized fertility-treatment records.
Rachel had used IVF after recurrent pregnancy loss.
Robert's company-affiliated clinic stored embryos.
Michael was supposed to be the father.
Genetic testing showed otherwise.
Robert's sperm had been used.
Without Rachel's knowledge.
The crime expanded into something far more serious.
Robert's motive was scientific.
He wanted children who concentrated the Parker marker genetically.
A horrific abuse of reproductive medicine disguised as research ambition.
Noah and Grace were biologically the product of Robert's unauthorized manipulation.
But Rachel was their mother.
Michael had expected to be their father.
Emma had saved them.
Biology did not determine family.
The news was sealed to protect the children, but defense attorneys learned through discovery.
Robert's own lawyer looked stunned.
Robert did not.
That reaction told Rachel everything.
“You knew.”
He refused to answer.
Federal prosecutors added charges involving reproductive fraud and unlawful use of genetic material.
The fertility physician, Dr. Alan Creek, accepted a plea deal.
He admitted Robert pressured him.
Money.
Research grants.
Career threats.
Again, not mind control.
Choices.
Dr. Creek could have refused.
He didn't.
Rachel sat with Sarah after learning the full truth.
“I don't know how I'm supposed to look at them.”
Sarah's face hardened.
“You look at them exactly the way you did yesterday.”
Rachel began crying.
“I know they're innocent.”
“They're your children.”
“I know.”
“Then say it.”
Rachel looked toward the bassinets.
“My children.”
Again.
“My children.”
Emma heard from the hallway.
“They're mine too.”
Rachel laughed through tears.
“Yes.”
Emma came in.
“Why are you sad?”
Rachel looked at Sarah.
How much could a seven-year-old carry?
Enough truth to prevent lies.
Not every detail.
Rachel said:
“The doctor did something wrong when Noah and Grace were made.”
“Uncle Robert?”
“He was part of it.”
Emma frowned.
“Are they still our babies?”
Rachel's face crumpled.
“Yes.”
Emma shrugged.
“Then okay.”
Children sometimes saw through bloodline mythology faster than adults.
The custody issue shifted.
Robert could claim biological paternity.
His attorneys hinted he might.
Maya was ready.
“Being a biological father does not give a man automatic custody after he arranged unauthorized conception and endangered the children.”
Robert never filed.
Perhaps even he understood how grotesque it would appear.
His company dissolved into bankruptcy.
Civil plaintiffs lined up.
Patent ownership litigation began.
Rachel relinquished personal claims to the children's genetic data and petitioned the court to place future research decisions under independent guardianship until they reached adulthood.
“No one owns what their bodies can teach,” she said.
It became the principle guiding everything afterward.
Then came trial.
Michael's death.
Research crimes.
Fraud.
Obstruction.
Witness intimidation.
Reproductive offenses.
Robert's defense tried to fragment the case.
One misunderstood scientist.
One accident.
One paperwork failure.
One rogue doctor.
One unstable sister.
Prosecutors showed pattern.
Control.
Again and again.
On the fourth day, Anthony Briggs testified.
Robert stared at him.
Anthony's voice shook.
But he spoke.
Then the prosecutor asked:
“Did Robert Parker ever explain why stopping Michael Parker mattered so much?”
Anthony nodded.
“What did he say?”
Anthony looked at Rachel.
Then toward the jury.
“He said Michael was going to take Candidate Seventeen away forever.”
The courtroom went silent.
“And what did you understand Candidate Seventeen to mean?”
May you like
Anthony answered:
“Emma.”
