Chapter 13 — The Husband Who Finally Chose
Chapter 13 — The Husband Who Finally Chose
Nathan had spent five years choosing silence.
Tonight, he finally chose Leah.
Not because she was his wife.
Not because she was carrying his family's greatest secret.
Not because the Bell Trust was worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
He chose her because, for the first time, there was nothing left to hide behind.
No contract.
No mother.
No inheritance.
No excuse.
Just a woman standing in the middle of an empty nursery, holding a photograph of two missing babies.
His wife.
The woman he had betrayed.
The woman he still loved.
Leah looked at him.
“Tell me the truth.”
Nathan swallowed.
“About what?”
“Everything.”
He knew what she meant.
The hospital.
The trust.
Simone.
The children.
Gabriel.
Her father.
And the laboratory beneath Briar Glen.
Nathan looked toward the locked door.
Then back at her.
“If I tell you everything, you may never forgive me.”
Leah's voice was quiet.
“You lost the right to ask for forgiveness a long time ago.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
“Then tell me anyway.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“I chose you the first night I met you.”
Leah stared at him.
“That's not what I asked.”
“I know.”
He opened his eyes.
“But it's where the truth begins.”
Five years earlier, Nathan had been standing outside a courthouse when his father called.
He remembered the exact words.
Marry her.
Nathan had laughed.
“Who?”
“Leah Bell.”
“I don't know her.”
“You will.”
“And if I refuse?”
His father had paused.
“Then your mother dies.”
Nathan had gone completely still.
“What?”
“She knows too much.”
That was how it began.
Not with romance.
Not with flowers.
Not with a proposal.
With a threat.
His father had given him a file.
Inside was everything about Leah.
Her childhood.
Her education.
Her finances.
Her mother's disappearance.
Her father's supposed death.
And a photograph of Leah at twenty-four.
Nathan had stared at it.
“She doesn't know.”
“No.”
“She doesn't know any of this?”
“No.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Make her trust you.”
Nathan had closed the file.
“And then?”
“Marry her.”
Leah listened without interrupting.
When he finished, she asked:
“Did you ever plan to leave me?”
Nathan shook his head.
“Not after I met you.”
“When did that change?”
“The first night.”
“What happened?”
“You were at a restaurant.”
Leah frowned.
“I don't remember.”
“You spilled coffee on my jacket.”
Her expression softened despite herself.
“I remember that.”
“I thought you were going to apologize.”
“I did.”
“You apologized three times.”
A tiny smile appeared.
“You looked angry.”
“I wasn't.”
“You were.”
“I was terrified.”
“Of coffee?”
“Of you.”
Leah looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because my father told me to manipulate you.”
Nathan's voice cracked.
“And you were kind to me anyway.”
Leah looked away.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then she asked:
“Why did you stay?”
Nathan answered immediately.
“Because I loved you.”
“You could have told me.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of my family?”
“No.”
He looked at her.
“Of losing you.”
Leah's eyes filled with tears.
“You already lost me.”
“I know.”
He lowered his head.
“But I want to earn you back.”
Leah didn't respond.
Her phone vibrated.
A message.
BRIAR GLEN. LOWER LEVEL. MIDNIGHT.
Below it was an image.
A corridor.
A metal door.
And two small hospital bracelets.
One read:
NOAH CARVER.
The other:
BABY BELL — FEMALE.
Leah's heart stopped.
Nathan saw the image.
“We go now.”
Leah nodded.
“But not alone.”
Nathan looked toward the hallway.
“Who do you trust?”
Leah thought about it.
Then:
“Rachel.”
Rachel arrived twenty minutes later.
She looked exhausted.
Her clothes were torn.
There was a cut above her eyebrow.
Leah rushed toward her.
“What happened?”
Rachel shook her head.
“Your mother.”
“What about her?”
“She was taken.”
“By whom?”
“I don't know.”
Rachel looked at Nathan.
“But I know where she was trying to go.”
“Where?”
“Briar Glen.”
Leah looked at Nathan.
He nodded.
“Then that's where we're going.”
They entered the hospital through the old service entrance.
The building was nearly empty.
Briar Glen had been placed under partial evacuation after the night's events.
Emergency lights flickered across the corridors.
Nathan led them toward the basement.
Leah followed.
Rachel stayed behind.
At the end of the hallway was a steel door.
No sign.
No handle.
Only a biometric scanner.
Nathan stopped.
“That's it.”
“How do you know?”
“My father brought me here once.”
“When?”
“Before our wedding.”
Leah stared at him.
“You knew about the laboratory before you married me.”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“I hate that answer.”
“I know.”
Nathan placed his hand against the scanner.
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
A red light flashed.
ACCESS DENIED.
Rachel stepped forward.
“Try Leah.”
Leah placed her hand on the scanner.
Green.
The door unlocked.
Nathan stared.
“Only a Bell.”
Leah looked at him.
“You were never meant to enter.”
“No.”
She opened the door.
The laboratory was enormous.
Rows of glass chambers filled the underground room.
Most were empty.
Some contained equipment.
Others contained old records.
Leah walked slowly through the darkness.
“Where are the children?”
Rachel pointed.
“There.”
At the far end stood two incubators.
One was empty.
The other contained a newborn.
Leah's heart stopped.
“Noah.”
She ran.
The baby opened his eyes.
Leah lifted him.
“My baby.”
He began crying.
She pressed him against her chest.
“I've got you.”
Nathan stood beside her.
His eyes filled with tears.
“He's okay.”
Leah looked at him.
“He's alive because you finally chose us.”
Nathan nodded.
“I should have chosen you five years ago.”
“Yes.”
“I know.”
A sound came from behind them.
Footsteps.
They turned.
A woman appeared.
Simone.
She was bruised.
Her wrists were bound.
But she was alive.
Leah rushed toward her.
“Simone.”
Simone smiled weakly.
“You came.”
“Where is my daughter?”
Simone pointed toward another chamber.
Leah followed her gaze.
A small infant lay inside.
Alive.
Breathing.
Leah nearly collapsed.
“Oh my God.”
She moved toward the chamber.
A label was attached to the glass.
PROJECT BELLE — SUBJECT 18A.
Another label appeared beneath it.
SUBJECT 18B.
Leah stared.
“Eighteen A.”
Noah.
“Eighteen B.”
Her daughter.
Rachel whispered:
“They're twins.”
Simone nodded.
“Yes.”
Leah turned.
“You knew.”
“I knew everything.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Doreen was watching me.”
“Why did you help me?”
Simone's eyes filled with tears.
“Because I was the first mother she took.”
Leah froze.
“What?”
Simone looked at Nathan.
“Before you.”
Nathan's face changed.
Simone continued.
“I gave birth to the first Bell embryo.”
Leah stared.
“You're saying Noah…”
“Wasn't your first child.”
Silence.
“Doreen took my baby.”
“What happened?”
“She told me he died.”
Nathan looked horrified.
“And then?”
Simone pointed toward the laboratory.
“They kept him.”
Leah looked at the incubators.
“Where?”
Simone shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Nathan's voice became cold.
“How many children?”
Simone whispered:
“Seventeen.”
Leah stared at the rows of chambers.
Seventeen children.
Seventeen lives.
Seventeen families who had been told their babies died.
Her stomach turned.
“Where are they?”
Simone looked toward the records.
“Some were transferred.”
“Where?”
“Private facilities.”
“Names.”
“I don't know all of them.”
Rachel opened a cabinet.
Files fell out.
She picked one up.
“Leah.”
Leah turned.
Rachel held a folder.
“Look.”
Inside were photographs.
Children.
Babies.
Toddlers.
Each had a number.
Each had a name.
Each had a date.
Leah covered her mouth.
“They're alive.”
Nathan looked at the documents.
“Some.”
Rachel turned another page.
“These are transfer records.”
“Where?”
Rachel read the address.
“Pennsylvania.”
Another.
“New Jersey.”
Another.
“Canada.”
Leah stared.
“This isn't a laboratory.”
Simone nodded.
“It's a distribution center.”
Nathan looked at her.
“What?”
Simone's voice shook.
“They weren't creating heirs.”
She pointed to the files.
“They were selling them.”
The truth hit Leah harder than anything Doreen had done.
The trust.
The money.
The children.
It wasn't about preserving a family.
It was about ownership.
Doreen and the others had turned children into assets.
Leah looked at Nathan.
“Your family did this.”
Nathan nodded.
“Yes.”
“And you knew.”
“Not this.”
“You knew enough.”
“I did.”
Leah looked away.
Nathan took a step back.
“I won't defend myself.”
“Good.”
“I deserve your hatred.”
“Maybe.”
“But I'll spend the rest of my life fixing what I helped destroy.”
Leah looked at him.
“How?”
Nathan reached into his coat.
He pulled out a flash drive.
“I copied everything.”
Rachel stared.
“All the files?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Nathan looked at Leah.
“Because I knew someday I would have to choose.”
He held out the drive.
“I chose you.”
Leah took it.
Then the lights went out.
The laboratory fell into darkness.
A metal door slammed.
Rachel shouted.
“Who's there?”
No answer.
Then a voice came through the speakers.
Doreen.
“You really thought you could destroy me?”
Leah looked around.
“Where are you?”
“Watching.”
A screen flickered on.
Doreen appeared.
Behind her stood two men.
And between them—
Leah's mother.
Eleanor.
Her hands were tied.
Leah gasped.
“Mom!”
Doreen smiled.
“Give me the drive.”
Leah held it tighter.
“No.”
Doreen shook her head.
“You still don't understand.”
“Understand what?”
“The laboratory isn't the secret.”
Leah frowned.
“Then what is?”
Doreen looked at Nathan.
“Ask your husband.”
Leah turned.
Nathan was staring at the floor.
“What?”
Doreen laughed.
“He knows who financed everything.”
Leah looked at Nathan.
“Who?”
Nathan said nothing.
“Tell me.”
He closed his eyes.
“Leah…”
“Tell me.”
Doreen answered for him.
“Your husband.”
Leah froze.
“What?”
“Nathan didn't just marry you.”
Doreen smiled.
“He inherited the operation.”
Leah looked at Nathan.
“You…”
Nathan's face broke.
“I didn't know what it really was.”
“You had access.”
“Yes.”
“You signed documents.”
“Yes.”
“You moved money.”
“Yes.”
“And you still say you didn't know?”
“I knew there was a trust.”
Leah's voice shook.
“How much did you make?”
Nathan looked at her.
“Nothing.”
“Don't lie.”
“I didn't.”
Doreen laughed.
“He made millions.”
Nathan turned toward the screen.
“Stop.”
“You paid for the laboratory.”
“No.”
“You paid for the transfers.”
“I thought they were medical research.”
“You never asked.”
Nathan's face went white.
Leah stepped backward.
“You didn't know.”
“No.”
“You should have.”
“Yes.”
Doreen smiled.
“And that's why he was the perfect husband.”
A gunshot rang out.
The screen went black.
Eleanor screamed.
Then silence.
Leah stared at the screen.
“Mom?”
No answer.
Nathan grabbed her.
“We have to move.”
“No.”
“Leah.”
“I'm not leaving her.”
Rachel pointed toward the rear door.
“There!”
They ran.
Behind the laboratory was another corridor.
Nathan kicked open a door.
They found Eleanor tied to a chair.
Alive.
Leah rushed toward her.
“Mom!”
Eleanor cried.
“I knew you'd come.”
Leah untied her.
“Who was with Doreen?”
“Her people.”
“Where is she?”
“Gone.”
Nathan looked around.
Then noticed something.
A small bloodstain on the floor.
He crouched.
“This isn't hers.”
Leah stared.
“Whose?”
Nathan looked at the blood.
Then toward the corridor.
“Doreen.”
“What?”
“She was shot.”
Rachel's eyes widened.
“Then who shot her?”
Nathan stood.
“I don't know.”
Eleanor looked terrified.
“I do.”
Everyone turned.
Eleanor whispered:
“Your father.”
Leah froze.
“My father?”
“He came back.”
Nathan shook his head.
“He's supposed to be dead.”
Eleanor looked at him.
“He was.”
“Then how?”
She stared toward the darkness.
“He wasn't.”
A baby's cry echoed through the laboratory.
Leah turned.
Her daughter.
She ran toward the incubator.
The glass was open.
Empty.
“No.”
She looked around.
“She was here.”
Nathan joined her.
“No footprints.”
Rachel checked the monitors.
“Someone disconnected it carefully.”
Leah's heart pounded.
“She was taken.”
A voice came from the corridor.
“No.”
Everyone froze.
A man stepped into the light.
Daniel Bell.
Leah's father.
He was holding the baby.
Alive.
Safe.
Leah stared at him.
“Give me my daughter.”
Daniel looked at her.
“I will.”
“Now.”
He walked forward.
Then stopped.
“You finally understand.”
“What?”
He looked at Nathan.
“You finally chose her.”
Nathan said nothing.
Daniel handed the baby to Leah.
She held her daughter against her chest.
The baby stopped crying.
Leah kissed her forehead.
“My little girl.”
Daniel watched.
“I waited twenty years for this.”
Leah looked up.
“For what?”
“For my family to come back.”
She frowned.
“We're here.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
He looked toward the laboratory.
“Not all of them.”
Then he pointed toward the files.
“The children Doreen stole aren't the only children who survived.”
Leah's heart stopped.
“What do you mean?”
Daniel smiled sadly.
“There are forty-three.”
Silence.
“Forty-three?”
“Forty-three children.”
“Where?”
“Scattered across the country.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother and I couldn't save them all.”
Leah stared at him.
“Then why didn't you?”
Daniel's eyes filled with regret.
“Because we were too late.”
He turned toward Nathan.
“And because someone inside the Carver family kept finding them.”
Nathan froze.
“Who?”
Daniel looked at him.
“You.”
Leah's blood went cold.
Nathan shook his head.
“No.”
Daniel continued:
“You were the guardian.”
“I protected them.”
“You delivered them.”
“I didn't know.”
“You never asked.”
Nathan's face collapsed.
Leah stared at her husband.
Nathan couldn't meet her eyes.
Daniel walked toward the exit.
“There's one more thing.”
Leah held her daughter tighter.
“What?”
Daniel stopped.
“The person who ordered the children taken…”
He looked at Nathan.
“…wasn't Doreen.”
Leah's heart stopped.
“Then who?”
Daniel opened the door.
“The person who paid for the first laboratory.”
He looked back.
“Was your husband’s father.”
Then he disappeared into the darkness.
Leah turned toward Nathan.
He was crying.
For the first time since she had known him, Leah saw a man who had nothing left to hide behind.
She looked down at her daughter.
Then toward the corridor where her son waited.
She had both children.
But she had finally discovered the truth.
Her marriage had been built on a lie.
Her husband's family had built an empire on stolen children.
And Nathan had been standing at the center of it.
He had finally chosen her.
But Leah knew one terrible truth.
Choosing her was not the same as being innocent.
She took her daughter's hand.
“Let's go find Noah.”
Nathan nodded.
“And then?”
Leah looked at him.
“Then we find every child.”
“And after that?”
She stared into his eyes.
“Then you tell me everything your family did.”
Nathan swallowed.
“And if you hate me?”
Leah looked toward the darkness.
“Then I'll live with that.”
She turned away.
“But you're going to help me anyway.”
Nathan followed.
“Yes.”
This time, he didn't hesitate.
Because the choice had finally been made.
Not between money and love.
Not between family and loyalty.
Between silence and truth.
May you like
And Nathan Carver had finally chosen truth.
Now he would have to survive it.
