Chapter 4 - EVELYN’S FATHER HAD A REASON TO BREAK US
Dr. Andrea Bell chose a conference room inside her attorney’s office.
That told me she was afraid.
Or smart.
Possibly both.
Luca invited me.
I almost refused.
Then remembered the forged report had my name on it.
My marriage.
My medical history.
My life.
I went.
Rachel came with me.
Luca brought an attorney named Henry Sloan.
Dr. Bell sat across the table beside her criminal-defense lawyer.
She looked older than I remembered.
Smaller.
Fear has a way of reducing people who once seemed powerful.
She began with:
“I am seeking a cooperation agreement.”
Rachel said:
“That is not our problem.”
I almost smiled.
Dr. Bell swallowed.
“I understand.”
Luca leaned forward.
“Who forged the report?”
Her eyes moved to me.
“I did.”
The room went silent.
No denial.
My stomach turned.
“Why?”
“I was paid.”
“By Isabella?”
“No.”
“Who?”
Dr. Bell looked toward her attorney.
Then:
“Charles Shaw.”
Evelyn’s father.
Luca’s current father-in-law.
I stopped breathing.
Luca looked like stone.
“Why would Charles Shaw care whether Nia and I stayed married?”
Dr. Bell’s face tightened.
“Because his daughter loved you.”
Silence.
I laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
“Evelyn?”
“She had known Mr. Moretti socially for years.”
Luca stared.
“We barely spoke.”
Dr. Bell nodded.
“But Charles Shaw wanted a Moretti-Shaw alliance.”
“His investment group was entering commercial technology.”
“Moretti Global was expanding.”
“He believed a marriage connection would position both families.”
Rachel whispered:
“That is insane.”
Dr. Bell looked at her.
“You have not spent enough time around dynastic wealth.”
Fair.
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“How did he know we were having fertility problems?”
“Isabella.”
There it was.
Not direct conspiracy.
Gossip.
Family discussions.
Isabella had spoken privately with Charles Shaw at a fundraiser.
She complained that Luca and I were “struggling.”
That I seemed unwilling to accept family medical guidance.
Charles saw opportunity.
“He approached me because our clinic handled your file.”
Dr. Bell looked at Luca.
“I refused initially.”
“How much?”
“One hundred thousand.”
I closed my eyes.
Of course there was a higher number.
“What did he ask you to do?”
“Create a confidential summary suggesting significant female-factor infertility.”
“For Luca only?”
“Yes.”
“Why not put it in my chart?”
“Too easy to detect.”
“So you created a separate executive briefing.”
“Yes.”
Luca stared.
“Then my mother gave it to me.”
Dr. Bell nodded.
“I sent it to her office through the private family channel.”
“Did she know it was false?”
“I don’t know.”
That mattered.
Isabella could have believed it.
Or chosen not to question because it confirmed what she wanted.
Different guilt.
Still guilt.
Then I asked:
“What about the positive pregnancy test?”
Dr. Bell’s face changed.
“That was real.”
My skin went cold.
“No.”
“It was.”
“I was not pregnant six weeks before the divorce.”
Dr. Bell looked toward the attorney.
Then back.
“You had a positive serum hCG.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
I laughed sharply.
“You ran the clinic.”
“Yes.”
“Was the sample mine?”
Her expression shifted.
There.
“I can’t prove it.”
Silence.
The room changed again.
Dr. Bell continued.
“When Isabella learned there was a positive result, she paid Northline Medical Consulting fifty thousand.”
“For confidentiality?”
“Yes.”
“She believed it was yours.”
“Yes.”
“Was it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why didn’t you tell her?”
“Because by then Charles Shaw had already paid me.”
My stomach turned.
One lie requiring another.
She continued.
“If Isabella believed you were pregnant, she might pressure Luca to delay the divorce.”
“That would undermine what Shaw wanted.”
“So you told Isabella it was an extremely early result.”
“That Nia likely knew.”
“That contacting Luca could create legal exposure.”
“And Isabella agreed to silence.”
I stared.
Two wealthy parents.
Different motives.
Same decision.
Nobody asking me.
Nobody asking Luca.
Everyone moving pieces.
Then Luca asked:
“Did Evelyn know?”
Dr. Bell hesitated.
My pulse changed.
“Answer.”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you ever speak to her?”
“Once.”
“When?”
“Three months after your divorce.”
Luca went still.
“What did she ask?”
“Whether the fertility information had remained confidential.”
Silence.
His face changed completely.
I felt sorry for him.
Not enough to forget anything.
But enough.
He whispered:
“She knew.”
“Maybe not before the divorce,” Dr. Bell said quickly.
“She asked after.”
Luca stared.
“What exactly did she say?”
Dr. Bell looked at her notes.
“‘My father said there was medical information that made the divorce inevitable. I want to make sure none of it can come back on us.’”
Jesus.
Luca leaned back.
His current marriage had been built beside the grave of ours.
Maybe Evelyn had not dug it.
But she knew someone had.
Rachel asked:
“What happened to the positive blood sample record?”
Dr. Bell swallowed.
“I deleted the entry.”
“That’s why it’s not in the archive.”
“Yes.”
“Original lab?”
“Vendor merged later.”
“Can we recover?”
“Possibly.”
Luca’s lawyer immediately started speaking.
Preservation order.
Records request.
Criminal referral.
I barely listened.
My mind was elsewhere.
If a positive test truly existed before the divorce—
whose blood was it?
A lab error?
Another patient?
Fabrication?
And why?
Maybe Charles Shaw wanted Isabella frightened enough to keep the information quiet.
Maybe Dr. Bell invented the result herself.
Then another thought.
“You said Charles paid you one hundred thousand.”
“Yes.”
“Can you prove it?”
She slid a folder forward.
Bank transfers.
Offshore consulting.
Corporate entity.
Shaw Capital Strategic Advisers.
Rachel photographed everything.
Luca looked physically ill.
Then Dr. Bell said something quieter.
“There is more.”
Of course.
“The Moretti fertility case was not the first medical file Mr. Shaw influenced.”
Luca’s eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
“He paid for information on Evelyn too.”
Silence.
“Why?”
“Because she had a condition.”
Luca stopped.
“What condition?”
Dr. Bell looked toward her attorney.
Then:
“Evelyn had undergone fertility preservation in her twenties.”
“Egg retrieval.”
“Possible endometriosis.”
Luca stared.
“She never told me.”
“Her father insisted it remain confidential.”
I closed my eyes.
The irony was brutal.
A man forged my infertility to push Luca toward his daughter—
while hiding his own daughter’s fertility concerns.
Luca whispered:
“She spent years going through clinics with me.”
“Yes.”
“Never said anything.”
“I don’t know what she told her own physicians later.”
Luca stood.
Too fast.
His chair moved backward.
“Meeting over.”
Dr. Bell looked frightened.
“Mr. Moretti—”
He walked out.
I waited ten seconds.
Then followed.
Not because I was his wife.
Because I recognized the expression.
He was about to do something destructive simply to stop feeling helpless.
I found him in the hallway.
Phone already in hand.
“Who are you calling?”
“Evelyn.”
“No.”
His eyes snapped to mine.
“Excuse me?”
“You are furious.”
“Yes.”
“You just learned her father interfered with our marriage and Evelyn may have known.”
“Yes.”
“So you’re about to demand answers while you’re not capable of hearing anything except confession.”
Luca laughed coldly.
“Do not tell me how to handle my wife.”
I went still.
Then:
“You’re right.”
That surprised him.
I stepped back.
“Your marriage.”
“Your mistake.”
“Do whatever you want.”
I turned.
“Nia.”
I stopped.
His anger collapsed slightly.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t.”
“I used the wrong—”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“You don’t need to apologize because I’m jealous.”
“I’m not.”
I swallowed.
“You need to understand that every time you’re hurt, your instinct is still to control the conversation before anyone else can explain.”
He stared.
“That destroyed us too.”
Silence.
Then Luca slowly lowered his phone.
“I hate you when you’re right.”
“Good.”
He laughed once.
Broken.
“What should I do?”
“Go home.”
“She’s not there.”
“Then send one message.”
“What?”
“Tell her you know Dr. Bell’s story and you’re ready to listen when she’s ready to tell the truth.”
Luca looked at me.
“That’s what you wanted from me years ago.”
My throat tightened.
“Yes.”
He closed his eyes.
Then typed.
No demands.
No threats.
One message.
Evelyn responded eleven minutes later.
I knew my father had interfered after your divorce. I did not know he forged Nia’s report until after we were engaged. I should have told you. I was afraid if I did, I would lose you.
Luca stared at the screen.
Then another message.
I need to tell Nia something too. It involves the twins.
My stomach dropped.
“What could she possibly know about the twins?”
Luca looked at me.
His face had gone pale.
“I don’t know.”
May you like
Evelyn’s next message answered.
My father knew Nia was pregnant before Luca did.
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