You wouldn’t tell me why.
You drove here like the building was on fire.
And now I’m supposed to tell two hundred people we’re delayed while you figure out whether you have a daughter?”
“Madison—”
“Were you ever going to tell me about these forms?”
“I forgot about them.”
“You forgot you created embryos with your wife?”
He winced.
For years I had believed Madison possessed some secret power over him that I lacked.
She was younger, polished, always perfectly dressed, effortlessly charming when clients visited the office.
During the divorce, I imagined the two of them moving through their new life without consequence while I rebuilt mine from pieces.
Standing in that hospital room, I finally understood something much simpler.
Madison didn’t have a better version of Brandon.
She merely had a newer version of his promises.
A nurse appeared at the open door.
“Everything all right in here?”
“Yes,” I said.
Brandon answered at the same time.
“No.”
The nurse looked at him, then at Madison’s wedding gown, then at me.
“The patient needs rest.”
I nodded.
Brandon stepped toward the bed again.
“Claire, we need to talk about what happens now.”
“My lawyer will contact yours.”
“I don’t want lawyers involved.”
That nearly made me smile.
He had loved lawyers when he thought they were weapons he could use against me.
“They already are.”
“This is my child we’re talking about.”
“Thirty minutes ago you didn’t know she existed.”
“Because you didn’t tell me.”
I tapped the folder.
“I did.
You didn’t read it.”
There was nowhere for him to go after that.
Madison slowly removed her veil from her wrist.
She didn’t throw it dramatically.
She didn’t slap him or scream.
She simply folded the fabric once and draped it over the back of a chair.
“I’m going downstairs,” she said.
Brandon turned.
“Why?”
“Because I need to decide whether I’m getting back into that car with you.”
“We’re getting married today.”
Her expression hardened.
“You don’t get to announce that like another person has already agreed.”
Then she walked out.
Brandon stared after her.
For several seconds he looked genuinely stunned.
I realized he had probably never considered that both women in the room might stop organizing their choices around his certainty.
His phone rang again.
This time he answered.
“Not now,” he snapped.
A voice spoke rapidly on the other end.
His face tightened.
