“Am I?” I asked softly. “Why don’t you explain it then?”
Something shifted in his expression, and I watched the act fall away.
“You really want to know?” he said finally. “Fine. Our marriage died years ago. The treatments, the disappointments… All of it. It broke us. I still wanted my child. I just didn’t want to raise it in a broken marriage.”
“So you decided to steal it instead,” I said.
Claire stepped away from him. “I would never have helped you if I’d known the truth.”
Ethan’s mother stood up. “How could you, Ethan?”
Ethan shook his head. “It was the simplest way. I gathered enough proof to show I’d been taking an active interest in the baby. It’s enough to build a strong case for sole custody. We were going to have a fresh start, just me and my kid.”
“Not anymore.”
I pulled out a folder, took out the divorce papers, and held them toward him.
He glanced down at the documents, then looked back up at me.
“You’re divorcing me?”
“After all of this?” I said. “Absolutely.”
The surrogacy agency removed Ethan from the process after hearing the recording. The contracts were revised. Everything was rewritten with my lawyer present, and Ethan’s name no longer appeared on any of the paperwork.
Claire apologized, tears streaming down her face.
“I thought I was helping a father protect his baby. I never would have agreed to any of it if I’d known what he was really doing.”
I reached for her hand and squeezed it gently. “I believe you.”
The divorce was finalized a few months later.
Ethan fought for custody. His lawyer tried hard to explain away what he’d said on that recording, but it didn’t work.
The judge ruled in my favor.
