Chapter 9 - THE TEST THEY HAD NO RIGHT TO ORDER|
Luca arrived at the hospital within twenty minutes.
Sofia met us in a private consultation room. She had already secured the records and contacted the hospital's legal department.
“Someone used an old authorization to request a genetic comparison,” she explained.
“Whose authorization?” Luca asked.
“Your father's.”
“He has no authority over my medical records.”
“I know. That's why I stopped it.”
She placed a printed request on the table.
The form was dated three days earlier and carried the signature of a physician who had not worked at the hospital in years.
Luca read the name.
“Dr. Adrian Vale.”
The dead doctor.
“Someone is using his credentials,” Sofia said.
I felt my stomach tighten.
“Why would they want a genetic comparison?”
Sofia looked at Luca.
“They may be trying to establish whether the baby is biologically related to you.”
Luca's expression hardened.
“After twelve years, they're suddenly interested in proving I'm fertile?”
“Or they're trying to create doubt.”
The possibility frightened me more than I wanted to admit.
Someone could claim I had been unfaithful. Someone could use the false diagnosis to challenge the baby's legitimacy. Someone could turn our marriage into a public scandal.
Luca took my hand.
“No one will question my wife.”
“That's not what I'm afraid of,” I whispered.
He looked at me.
“What are you afraid of?”
“That they'll hurt our baby because of what he represents.”
His expression softened.
He pressed his forehead against mine.
“I won't let that happen.”
Sofia cleared her throat.
“There is another issue. I reviewed the records from Luca's accident. The original sample used for the fertility testing was not collected by the hospital laboratory.”
“Where did it come from?” Luca asked.
“Northstar Biomedical.”
Marco's face changed.
“The company Carlo owns.”
Sofia nodded.
“Someone outside the hospital controlled the testing.”
Luca turned to Marco.
“Find out who ordered it.”
Before Marco could respond, the door opened.
A nurse entered, visibly shaken.
“Dr. Bennett, there's a man downstairs asking for Mrs. Varenna.”
“Who?”
“He says his name is Thomas Hale.”
Luca immediately stood.
“Bring him up.”
The nurse hesitated.
“He's injured.”
A moment later, two security officers helped an elderly man into the room.
Thomas Hale looked ten years older than he had in his photograph. His shirt was stained, and a bandage covered his forehead.
He saw Luca and began crying.
“I should have told you.”
Luca stepped toward him.
“Then start talking.”
Thomas looked at me.
“Your father-in-law ordered me to lie. But he wasn't the one who first arranged the operation.”
Luca's jaw tightened.
“Who was?”
Thomas swallowed.
“Your mother.”
The room fell silent.
Luca stepped back.
“No.”
Thomas's eyes filled.
“Isabella wanted to save your life. She authorized the second operation because she believed the first surgeon had made a mistake.”
“Then why did she sign the transfer?”
“Because she didn't know what Augusto planned to do afterward.”
Thomas reached into his coat.
He pulled out a folded page.
“Your mother left instructions. She wanted you to know the truth if you ever became a father.”
He handed Luca the paper.
At the bottom was Isabella's signature.
May you like
And above it was a sentence that made Luca's face collapse:
If my son has a child, tell him that I knew he was never infertile.
