Chapter 16 - The Mother Who Never Stopped SearchingThe words destroyed the last piece of certainty I had.
“She is your daughter’s biological mother.”
I stared at Luke.
Waiting.
Waiting for him to deny it.
To tell me Victoria was lying.
But he didn’t.
And that silence was the answer.
My hands trembled as I held the photograph.
The woman beside Luke looked younger.
Happy.
Pregnant.
A life that existed before me.
A secret life.
“Who is she?”
Luke’s eyes filled with regret.
“Her name is Amelia Carter.”
The name meant nothing.
But the pain in his voice told me everything.
“You knew her.”
Luke nodded.
“Years ago.”
“How?”
He took a deep breath.
“Before I met you, I worked with the fertility program.”
I looked at him.
“You said you handled records.”
“I did.”
“But you never told me about her.”
“No.”
The honesty hurt more than another lie.
“What happened?”
Luke looked at the floor.
“Amelia and her husband were trying to have a child.”
Detective Harris stepped closer.
“And?”
Luke continued.
“There was a mistake.”
The same words.
The same excuse.
A mistake.
But I had learned something.
Mistakes were accidents.
Secrets were choices.
“What kind of mistake?”
Luke swallowed.
“The embryo transfer records were altered.”
“By who?”
He looked at Victoria.
“Victoria.”
Everyone turned.
Victoria didn’t deny it.
“I thought I could fix it.”
My anger rose.
“You thought stealing children would fix anything?”
Her expression hardened.
“You don’t understand what happened.”
“Then explain.”
Victoria looked at Amelia’s photograph.
“The company destroyed families because admitting the truth would cost millions.”
She pointed at Luke.
“He knew.”
Luke closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“And instead of exposing it…”
Victoria continued.
“He protected himself.”
The room became silent.
I looked at Luke.
“You let people suffer.”
His voice broke.
“I was afraid.”
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
I stepped closer.
“But your fear became our nightmare.”
Then Detective Harris received a call.
His face changed.
“What happened?”
He listened for a few seconds.
Then looked at me.
“We found Amelia Carter.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
“She’s alive.”
Nobody spoke.
“She has been living under another name for six years.”
A terrible thought entered my mind.
“Why?”
The detective looked at Luke.
“Because someone convinced her her baby had died.”
Luke looked devastated.
May you like
And for the first time…
I saw him understand the full damage he had caused.
