Chapter 9: The Baby
The question of the baby weighed on Richard more heavily than anything else.
He needed to know the truth.
Using the same private investigator, he arranged for a discreet inquiry into Harper’s medical records and the timing of the pregnancy. What came back was carefully limited, but it was enough to raise serious doubts.
According to the timeline, Harper had already been seeing a private doctor weeks before she officially announced the pregnancy to Preston. There were also payments from Eleanor’s hidden account to that same clinic.
Nothing proved the child wasn’t Preston’s.
But nothing proved it was, either.
Richard sat alone in his car outside the clinic one afternoon, staring at the building in silence.
If the baby was Preston’s, then Eleanor and Harper were still using an innocent child as part of their plan.
If the baby wasn’t Preston’s, then the betrayal was even deeper than he had imagined.
Either way, the child was now caught in the middle of a web of lies.
Richard rested his forehead against the steering wheel for a moment.
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He had always believed that blood and family meant something.
Now he was no longer sure what either of those words still meant inside his own house.
