Chapter 10 - The Choice Megan Made Before Brooke Ever Volunteered
The selection audit arrived under protective order eleven days later.
Rebecca read it before showing Brooke.
That made Brooke nervous.
“Tell me.”
Rebecca turned the laptop around.
The donor-bank website recorded searches made by recipient accounts.
Three years earlier, Megan Hale had not browsed randomly through hundreds of profiles.
Her first archived search contained one entry.
B-417.
Brooke stared at it.
The next line showed that Megan opened the profile.
Then downloaded the extended medical history.
Then requested availability.
The entire sequence took nine minutes.
“No filters?” Brooke asked.
“No height. No hair color. No education. No blood type.”
“She typed the number.”
“Yes.”
Brooke leaned back.
The coincidence argument disappeared.
But Rebecca had more.
Two days after requesting B-417, Megan emailed the donor-bank coordinator.
The bank had removed Brooke’s identifying information before releasing the message because anonymity protections still applied.
Megan’s words remained.
I know this donor personally from before her donation. I understand she has no rights to the donated material. I do not want my husband informed of her identity.
Brooke read it three times.
Cole had received the same document through his attorney.
He called ten minutes later.
“She knew.”
Brooke could barely answer.
“Yes.”
Then Rebecca opened another timeline.
Megan selected B-417.
The eggs were shipped.
Embryos were created using Cole’s sperm.
Only four months later did Megan ask Brooke whether she would consider becoming their gestational carrier.
Brooke stopped breathing.
She had always believed the order was opposite.
Megan had told her they already had “one last embryo from our cycle” and needed someone they trusted to carry it.
But the embryo had already been created from Brooke’s donated egg before Megan ever approached her.
Megan had first chosen Brooke genetically.
Then chosen her again physically.
Brooke stood so abruptly the chair rolled backward.
“She planned this.”
Rebecca did not soften it.
“The records show she deliberately selected your donor lot before asking you to carry.”
“Why?”
“That part still requires an answer.”
Cole arrived at Rebecca’s office thirty minutes later.
He looked ill.
Brooke faced him.
“You signed the donor consent.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Megan chose the donor.”
“I knew she chose a profile.”
“Did you know she searched a specific number?”
“No.”
“Did you know she knew the donor?”
“No.”
“Did you ever ask?”
Cole’s eyes dropped.
“No.”
Brooke nodded.
The answer still mattered.
Rebecca slid one more document across the table.
The donor profile emphasized traits that resembled Megan enough to preserve the appearance of a genetic connection.
Similar height.
Similar coloring.
Similar ancestry.
But several details belonged unmistakably to Brooke.
Her grandfather’s occupation.
Her degree.
Her rare childhood medication allergy.
Megan had not selected a donor who happened to resemble her.
She had selected Brooke because Brooke resembled her enough.
Cole stared at the page.
“Why would she do this?”
Brooke knew before he finished asking.
Not the entire reason.
But enough.
“Megan spent five years terrified people would know she couldn’t have a genetic child.”
Cole looked at her.
“She wanted a donor nobody would question.”
Brooke continued.
“And she wanted someone whose medical history she already trusted.”
Rebecca said nothing.
Brooke looked toward the conference-room window.
“And then she made that same woman carry the baby so she could control every part of the pregnancy.”
Cole covered his face.
The earlier months rearranged themselves.
Megan’s jealousy when Cole thanked Brooke.
Her anger when Brooke knitted the blanket.
Her obsession with keeping Brooke from seeing donor reports.
Her constant reminders that Brooke was “only the carrier.”
Those words had not been casual.
Megan had been protecting the one distinction her secret could not survive.
Rebecca broke the silence.
“The DNA report arrives tomorrow.”
Cole lifted his head.
“And if it confirms Brooke?”
“Then truth becomes clearer.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“But your legal choices become harder.”
Cole glanced at Brooke.
Supporting her parentage review could threaten the structure he had expected since the first fertility appointment.
His marriage was already collapsing.
Now certainty about fatherhood might come with uncertainty about everything surrounding it.
Brooke waited.
May you like
Cole did not hesitate this time.
“Whatever the test says, I’m not helping Megan hide another fact.”
