all out of love

My picturesque New England life shattered the moment the school nurse called. Lily, my bright, artistic daughter, AB-positive? Impossible. I'm O-negative.

The doctor's genetics lesson was a punch to the gut: Lily couldn't be mine.

Then, the real earthquake hit. Overhearing Grant, my devoted husband, revealed a sinister conspiracy. Bea Baker, his old flame, was back, and Lily was her daughter through a twisted surrogacy plot. Grant was secretly bankrolling her silence.

The betrayal deepened. He'd been drugging me, keeping me from conceiving. My 'perfect' life was a lie, meticulously crafted by a man I barely knew. He'd even developed Bea's family farm into a soulless mall, crushing her family in the process.

Fury and disgust warred within me. Bea knew too much about my 'miscarriage.' She hinted at Northwood Pharma, experimental testing and my stolen baby used for science. Grant's face, smiling, taunting, haunted me.

He was meeting Bea tomorrow. The affair was current, not just old history. He wants her to live with us! This charade ends now. My quest for truth had just begun. How deep does this rabbit hole go? And what happened to my own baby? Retribution is coming.

1

The digital clock on the school nurse's desk showed 3:15 PM.

Dr. Peterson, the pediatrician from town, looked at Eleanor Vance. His face was serious.

"Eleanor, I need to discuss Lily's blood test results with you."

Eleanor sat straighter. "Is something wrong? Is Lily okay?"

"Lily is healthy. That's not the issue." He paused. "The blood type on her school records is O-negative. We re-tested today during the health screening. Lily is AB-positive."

Eleanor frowned. "There must be a mistake. I'm O-negative. Grant, my husband, is A-positive."

Dr. Peterson met her eyes. "Eleanor, two O-negative parents cannot have an AB-positive child. And an O-negative mother and an A-positive father, if he's heterozygous AO, could have A or O. If he's homozygous AA, they could only have A. Neither can result in an AB child if the mother is O."

The clinical words hung in the air.

Eleanor's breath caught. The room felt cold. "What are you saying?"

"Based on basic genetics, Lily cannot be your biological daughter if your blood type is O-negative."

Shock hit Eleanor. A wave of dizziness made her grip the armrests. Her world tilted. Disbelief was a tight knot in her chest. This was impossible. Lily was her daughter. She remembered the adoption process, yes, but this was a different kind of wrongness. The adoption papers said Lily was her biological child, a private arrangement.

What did this mean?

Eleanor drove home. Her hands shook on the steering wheel.

The doctor's words echoed. Cannot be your biological daughter.

A horn blared. She swerved, narrowly missing a delivery truck. Her heart hammered.

Anxiety coiled in her stomach. Confusion clouded her thoughts. This secret, this lie, felt dangerous.

She thought of Lily, her bright, artistic Lily. Her daughter.

This news could destroy everything.

She reached her street, the picturesque New England lane. Her house looked perfect, just like her life was supposed to be.

But now, a crack had appeared.

She parked the car, her body heavy with a new, terrible vulnerability. She needed to talk to Grant. He would explain. There had to be an explanation.

She walked into the house. Grant's voice came from his study. He was on a call.

"Yes, Bea's flight gets in tomorrow. I've arranged the usual suite at The Willows."

Eleanor froze. Bea Baker. Grant's old college girlfriend. Why was Bea coming here?

Grant's voice continued, low and conspiratorial. "The quarterly payments are up to date for her foundation. Consider it an ongoing educational grant, for services rendered... and silence maintained."

Betrayal, sharp and cold, pierced Eleanor. Anger followed, hot and quick. Her heart ached.

Grant was talking to his business partner, Marcus Thorne.

"Eleanor still thinks losing the Baker farm was just bad luck for them. She has no idea my development a_nd_ Bea's... cooperation... were linked."

The room spun. Bea's family farm. Developed by Grant into that soulless shopping mall years ago.

Grant continued, oblivious to Eleanor's presence.

"And the other matter... the pills. Marcus, you still have a reliable source for those, right? The custom ones?"

Marcus's muffled voice replied.

Grant chuckled. "Good. Eleanor still thinks she just can't conceive again. Simpler that way. Keeps things stable with Lily."

Disgust washed over Eleanor. Birth control pills. Secretly given to her.

Violation. Powerlessness. Grant had been drugging her.

The betrayal deepened, cutting off her breath. Her perfect life was a meticulously crafted lie, and Grant was the architect. His public persona, the devoted husband, was a mask. This man, her husband, was cold. Uncaring.