“No.”
Patricia’s head snapped toward him.
“Daniel.”
The way she said his first name told Lauren more than the denial had.
Evelyn placed her phone on the desk and opened an email recovered through a court-authorized review of Travis’s account.
The message had been sent to Kendra the morning after the garage visit.
Mom handled Lauren’s signature.
Mercer says the transfer can happen Friday.
Delete this.
Patricia lunged for the phone.
Robert stepped between them.
“Mrs.
Caldwell, do not touch potential evidence.”
Her arm dropped.
Lauren read the message twice.
She had known Travis was capable of betrayal.
She had spent a year reconstructing the secret life he had built while she was grieving.
Still, seeing the words made the cruelty feel newly deliberate.
He had not merely left her for her best friend.
He had taken the embryo created from Lauren’s body, used her forged consent, and placed that embryo inside Kendra.
Then all three of them had paraded Noah’s birth as proof that Lauren had been the problem.
Evelyn rested a steadying hand against the back of Lauren’s chair.
Patricia looked at the patients who had gathered near the hallway.
“This is a family matter.”
Lauren finally stood.
“You made it a public matter when you walked across this waiting room and told strangers that Kendra gave Travis what I couldn’t.”
Patricia’s mouth tightened.
“I did not know the paperwork was improper.
Travis told me everything had been resolved in the divorce.”
Robert tapped the witness line.
“Then why is your signature here?”
“I signed where I was told.”
“You certified that you watched Lauren sign.”
“I assumed she had signed an identical copy elsewhere.”
“That is not what the certification says.”
Patricia turned to Dr.
Mercer.
“Tell them.”
He looked as though the room had become too small for him.
“Travis wasn’t the person who chose which embryo to use,” he said.
Robert’s eyes narrowed.
“Who did?”
Dr.
Mercer looked at Patricia.
The last trace of color left her face.
“Daniel,” she warned.
He ignored her.
“She did.”
The words landed with such force that Lauren felt them physically.
Patricia gripped the edge of the desk.
“That is a lie.”
Dr.
Mercer shook his head.
“You told Marianne that Travis and Kendra wanted the embryo with the strongest grading.
You insisted on the male embryo because preimplantation testing had identified the sex.”
