One year after my divorce, my ex-mother-in-law spotted me at the clinic with a smug grin. She told me her son made the right choice leaving me and was now raising a daughter with my former friend. I stayed calm, smiled, and said
One year after my divorce, my ex-mother-in-law saw me at the clinic and smiled with that smug satisfaction I knew too well. She told me her son had been right to leave me and that he was now raising a daughter with my former friend. I stayed composed, smiled back, and said, “Is that what you think?” Then a man walked in, and every trace of color drained from her face.
A year after the divorce, my ex-mother-in-law spotted me in the waiting room of Westbridge Fertility Clinic in Denver.
Well,” she said, loud enough for the receptionist to hear, “isn’t this interesting?”
I did not answer.
Her eyes gleamed with satisfaction. “Leaving you was the best choice my son ever made. Now he’s raising a beautiful daughter with Megan. A real Something you could never give him.”
My throat tightened, but I kept my expression still.
Six months after the divorce, Megan announced she was pregnant.
Patricia told everyone it was a miracle.
I believed that too, until a clinic billing notice accidentally arrived at my old email. It listed an embryo transfer date two weeks after my divorce had been filed.
My embryo.
My consent form.
My signature.
Except I had never signed it.
So when Patricia leaned closer and whispered, “That little girl is proof my son chose right,” I finally smiled.
“Is that what you think?”
Before she could respond, the clinic door opened.
A tall man in a navy suit entered, carrying a sealed evidence envelope. Patricia turned, and all the color left her face.
She knew him.
Everyone in the Parker family knew him.
Detective Andrew Cole had once investigated Ryan’s business partner for insurance fraud. Now he walked straight toward us, nodded to me, and then looked at Patricia.
“Mrs. Parker,” he said, “good. You’re here too.”
Patricia tightened her grip on her handbag. “Why would I need to be here?”
Detective Cole raised the envelope.
“Because your son’s daughter was created using Mrs. Bennett’s frozen embryo,” he said. “And the consent form appears to have been forged.”
The waiting room fell silent.
I looked at Patricia and said, “Still think he made the best choice?”….
