Page 140 of I Will Find You

“Your family owned the fertility clinic.”

“Go on.”

“So it would have been easy to set up. Did you threaten someone or pay them off?”

“I rarely see a need to threaten. Money and NDAs are usually enough.”

“You made sure that they used your sperm for the donation.”

Hayden closed his eyes and smiled and lifted his face toward the sky.

“It’s only you and I here, Hayden. Might as well come clean.”

“I wish you hadn’t done this.”

“Done what?”

He shook his head, the smile gone now.

“What did you think would happen, Hayden?”

“I thought that you’d have my son. That I’d tell you about it later.”

“And that would make me fall in love with you?”

“Perhaps. Either way, we would be a family, wouldn’t we? At worst, you’d push me away and raise my child. But chances are, you’d let me in your life. You’re not immune to my family’s influence. Remember that spring break when we took the family plane to that mansion in Antigua? Your face, Rachel. You loved it. You loved the parties. You loved the power. It’s part of why we became close. So yes, my plan was to impregnate you. Why would you want some anonymous donor sperm when you can have mine?”

“Someone special in the eyes of God,” she added.

“Exactly. Great genes. Someone who cares about you. It made perfect sense.”

“Except, of course, I never went to the clinic.”

“Yes. Your charade fooled everyone at Berg. It’s ironic when you think about it. Here you are, talking about how destructive my family was with burying secrets—”

“—when my sister and I were doing the exact same thing.”

“Yes, Rachel.”

“When did you figure out it was Cheryl and not me?”

“When you never got pregnant—and Cheryl did. So I went to the Berg clinic you supposedly visited. I showed the doctor your photograph. She didn’t recognize you. Then I showed her Cheryl’s photo…”

He shrugged.

“And then?”

“Then I waited. I planned. I watched. David was falling apart anyway. You know that, don’t you? The marriage wasn’t going to last. What Cheryl did. That lie ate him up. I think he always knew the boy wasn’t his. So I kept an eye on them. I remained patient.”

“You killed another child.”

“No, Rachel.”

“Someone was murdered that night.”

“That was part of the delay. I waited. I gave that child a spectacular life.”

“What does that even mean?”

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