Chapter 3 - The Broken Contract
Before Ryan could answer, the door opened. A middle-aged woman in a crisp beige business suit stepped inside, holding a thick leather portfolio. Behind her stood my obstetrician, Dr. Reed, looking visibly uncomfortable.
"I am Eleanor Vance," the woman said smoothly. "Senior legal counsel for the Sterling Estate Trust."
Ryan froze. "How... how do you know already? She was born thirty minutes ago!"
"Arthur Sterling owns a controlling stake in this medical network," Eleanor said, pulling a fountain pen from her pocket. "Every birthing suite is equipped with automated high-resolution optical monitors. The moment the infant was cleared, the imaging system identified the pigmentation pattern. The Sterling Firstborn trait."
"She is my daughter!" Melissa screamed. "Get out!"
Eleanor ignored her, pulling out documents stamped with gold foil seals. "According to the Irrevocable Family Trust Covenant signed by Julian Sterling in 1994, any child born within the bloodline displaying the primary mark is immediately a ward of the Sterling Estate Trust."
She placed the papers on the tray. "Sign the transfer of custody papers now, Ryan. You and your wife will receive a lump-sum distribution of five million dollars from the trust. You will be free to live your lives. But the child stays here. She will be transported to the Sterling estate in Duluth by private transport."
"Five million dollars..." Melissa whispered, her voice trembling as she looked at the papers.
"Don't you dare look at those papers, Melissa!" I snapped, turning my fury onto Eleanor. "I am the gestational surrogate. Under state law, until a post-birth parentage order is finalized, I hold full legal guardianship!"
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Eleanor turned to me with a cold, condescending smile. "Ah, yes. Maya Vance. The schoolteacher with a seven-year-old son named Leo living in Bloomington. Your home mortgage is held by a subsidiary of Sterling Financial. Your son attends St. Jude’s on a scholarship funded by the Sterling Foundation. If you fight this, Maya, you will lose your house by next Friday. Your son’s scholarship will be revoked by noon tomorrow. I will bury you under so many legal injunctions that you will spend the next ten years in bankruptcy court."
She stood up straight. "You have ten minutes to sign, Ryan. Or we enforce the covenant through federal court, without the five million dollars."
