Chapter 12 - What Megan Was Really Protecting
The confrontation happened in Rebecca’s office under agreed ground rules.
No shouting.
No physical contact.
Attorneys present.
Either side could leave.
Megan arrived wearing a cream coat and no makeup.
Brooke had never seen her look so ordinary.
For a moment they were children again in their father’s kitchen, one sister waiting for the other to admit who had broken something.
Then Megan sat down.
Cole remained across the table.
Brooke sat beside Rebecca.
Megan spoke first.
“I didn’t steal your eggs.”
Brooke nodded.
“I know.”
The answer seemed to unsettle her.
“You donated them.”
“Yes.”
“You gave up control over who used them.”
“Yes.”
Megan leaned forward.
“Then why are you acting like I committed some kind of reproductive kidnapping?”
Brooke looked directly at her.
“Because you knew they were mine.”
Megan’s jaw tightened.
“You didn’t own them anymore.”
“You’re still talking about property.”
“That’s what donation means.”
“No. That’s what you need it to mean.”
Megan looked toward Cole.
He did not rescue her.
Brooke continued.
“You chose my eggs before you asked me to carry the embryo.”
“I chose a healthy donor.”
“You searched my number.”
Megan looked away.
“You told me the embryo was yours.”
“I told you it was ours.”
“You said genetically yours and Cole’s.”
Megan’s composure cracked slightly.
“What difference would it have made?”
Brooke stared at her.
“All of it.”
Megan’s voice rose.
“You would have said no.”
“Yes.”
That answer stopped her.
Brooke let the silence remain.
Megan’s eyes filled but she refused to wipe them.
“I knew you’d say no because you make everything emotional.”
Brooke almost smiled.
“I was the pregnant one.”
“You know what I mean.”
“No. Tell me.”
Megan looked at Cole.
Then back at Brooke.
“When my doctor told me my eggs were done, I couldn’t stand looking through donor profiles.”
Her voice dropped.
“Every woman felt like a stranger who would be inside my family forever.”
“So you chose me.”
“You were healthy. You looked enough like me. I knew your history.”
Brooke felt sick.
Megan continued before anyone could interrupt.
“And you’d already donated. I thought that meant it didn’t matter to you.”
“It mattered enough for you to hide it.”
Megan said nothing.
Cole leaned forward.
“Why didn’t you tell me who she was?”
Megan laughed bitterly.
“Because look at you.”
Cole’s face tightened.
“What does that mean?”
“You’ve spent ten months treating her like she hung the moon because she carried your son.”
“She carried our child.”
“No.”
Megan’s voice sharpened.
“She carried the child I was supposed to raise with you.”
There it was.
Not biology.
Not paperwork.
Possession.
Brooke finally understood the blanket.
Every thank-you Cole gave Brooke had reminded Megan that pregnancy had created a bond she could not control.
If Brooke had also provided the egg, Megan feared the distinction between carrier and mother would collapse.
So she had enforced that distinction with humiliation.
“You were scared I’d become real to him,” Brooke said.
Megan looked at her.
“You were supposed to be helping me.”
“I was.”
“You weren’t supposed to become part of the story.”
Brooke’s voice softened.
“I was always part of it. You just needed me not to know how.”
Megan looked down.
Cole asked one final question.
“Did Brooke ever know before the hospital?”
Megan hesitated.
Then she said, “She knew enough.”
Brooke’s expression changed.
May you like
It was another lie.
And this time they already knew where to look for the proof.
