Her voice trembled.
“Years ago, when you and I were together, remember the genetic fertility study your hospital ran?”
Ethan remembered.
They had both volunteered samples because Ethan carried a recessive cardiac mutation he wanted screened before they ever had children.
Blood.
Genetic material.
Cryopreserved reproductive samples.
His face changed.
“No.”
“Marcus pressured me into IVF when he learned I might leave him. He thought a baby would make me stay.”
Hannah hugged herself.
“The clinic said they used donor sperm. I never chose the donor. Marcus handled everything.”
Ethan’s mind raced.
“What clinic?”
She named it.
A Caldwell affiliate.
Of course.
Within twenty-four hours, federal investigators uncovered another secret.
Ethan’s reproductive sample had never been destroyed.
It had been illegally retained for five years.
And months earlier, an embryology technician had selected it under a false donor code.
But the technician had not done so accidentally.
The authorization came from someone already under investigation.
