Pustaka
Cari
Beranda / Romance / Not The Surrogate Baby They Ordered / Chapter 11: What Eleanor Costs

Share

Chapter 11: What Eleanor Costs

Penulis: ToriWrites
last update Tanggal publikasi: 2026-08-14 00:03:08

The knock came at seven, right as Elena was finishing dinner, and when she opened the door it wasn't Diane standing there — it was Richard, alone, holding a paper bag from the bakery two blocks over like an offering he wasn't sure would be accepted.

"I hope this is all right," he said. "I should have called first."

"You could have," Elena said, stepping back to let him in anyway. "But it's fine. Diane's not with you?"

"No. This is — I wanted to come alone, actually. If that's okay."

Elena
Lanjutkan membaca buku ini secara gratis
Pindai kode untuk mengunduh Aplikasi
Bab sebelumnya Bab selanjutnya
Bab Terkunci

Bab terbaru

  • Not The Surrogate Baby They Ordered    Chapter 87: Confirmation

    The investigator Eleanor had retained arrived at her estate exactly as scheduled, a woman named Patricia Vance who'd built a discreet, expensive reputation handling exactly this kind of delicate family research for clients who valued confidentiality above nearly everything else."Mrs. Whitfield," Vance said, settling into the chair across from Eleanor's desk with a leather folder already open on her lap. "I have the preliminary findings you requested.""Go ahead," Eleanor said, folding her hands with the same patient, deliberate stillness she brought to every important negotiation."The child, Zuri Adaeze Hart, was born on the date corresponding almost exactly to your original surrogacy agreement's expected delivery window," Vance began, consulting her notes. "Public birth records confirm this, along with the mother's name matching your surrogate, Elena Hart. The timeline is entirely consistent with your family's original arrangement.""And the medical history? The diagnosis that prom

  • Not The Surrogate Baby They Ordered    Chapter 86: Eleanor's Interest

    Eleanor Whitfield's study occupied the quietest corner of the family estate, all dark wood and careful, deliberate order, and Diane stood in its doorway for a long moment before finally working up the nerve to knock."Come in," Eleanor called, not looking up from the documents spread across her desk.Diane stepped inside, closing the door behind her with more care than the moment strictly required, buying herself a few extra seconds before the conversation she'd been dreading since the incident at the dance studio three days earlier."I need to tell you something," Diane said, sitting stiffly in the chair across from Eleanor's desk. "About Elena Hart. And the child."Eleanor's pen stilled, her attention lifting slowly, deliberately, toward Diane's face. "I see you finally have my full attention. Go on.""I saw them. At the mall, a few weeks ago. Completely by accident, I promise you — I wasn't looking for them." Diane's hands twisted together in her lap. "She's beautiful, Eleanor. Hea

  • Not The Surrogate Baby They Ordered    Chapter 85: A Line Crossed

    Elena spotted her the moment they walked into the dance studio's small waiting area, and felt her stomach drop with an immediacy that left no room for doubt about what she was seeing.Diane sat in the far corner of the parents' waiting room, a magazine open on her lap that she clearly wasn't reading, her attention fixed on the studio door through which the six-and-seven-year-old dance class would soon emerge."Diane." Elena's voice came out sharper than she intended, cutting across the small waiting room with enough force that several other parents glanced up curiously. "What are you doing here?"Diane startled, the magazine sliding from her lap as she stood too quickly. "Elena, I didn't— I wasn't trying to—""You told me you wouldn't reach out again unless I asked you to," Elena said, crossing the room with quick, deliberate steps, keeping her voice low despite the fury building rapidly in her chest. "This is not that. This is you showing up, uninvited, at my daughter's dance class."

  • Not The Surrogate Baby They Ordered    Chapter 84: Six Years Later

    Diane's text arrived Sunday evening, a full day after the mall, careful and measured in a way that suggested considerable thought had gone into every word.Diane: I know I have no right to ask this, and I understand completely if the answer is no. But could we talk, just the two of us, no Zuri involved? I'm not asking for access to her. I just need to say some things to you directly, after everything.Elena stared at the message for a long time before finally calling Ms. Okafor, who'd already walked her through the legal landscape the night before — the original settlement's release remained fully intact, Diane had no legal standing to pursue any claim, and nothing about a conversation would change that."There's no legal risk in simply talking to her, if you want to," Ms. Okafor had said. "The release protects you regardless. Whether you want to have that conversation emotionally is a completely separate question, and one I can't answer for you."Elena sat with the decision through m

  • Not The Surrogate Baby They Ordered    Chapter 83: Mommy, Look

    The silence at the table stretched unbearably, Diane still standing over them, her gaze fixed on Zuri with an intensity that made Elena's skin prickle with old, familiar dread."Diane," Elena said finally, forcing her voice into something steadier than she actually felt. "I think you should go.""I just—" Diane's voice caught, her eyes finally lifting to meet Elena's directly. "I never got to see her. Not once. I didn't even know her name until the settlement paperwork.""That was your choice," Elena said, old anger surfacing with surprising speed, six years of careful distance collapsing instantly under the weight of the moment. "You made that choice, and I've spent six years building a life around it. I don't think either of us needs to relitigate it here, in the middle of a food court.""I know," Diane said quickly, though she made no move to actually leave. "I'm not trying to relitigate anything. I just—" She stopped again, visibly struggling to find words adequate to the moment.

  • Not The Surrogate Baby They Ordered    Chapter 82: New Shoes

    The mall trip had been on Elena's calendar for two weeks by the time Saturday actually arrived, Zuri having outgrown her sneakers with the particular suddenness that seemed to define every stage of her growth over the past year."Emily's meeting us there at noon," Elena said, checking her phone as she pulled into the parking garage, Zuri already unbuckling herself in the back seat with practiced efficiency. "We'll get your shoes first, then lunch at the food court, and if there's time, maybe the bookstore.""Can we get the light-up ones this time?" Zuri asked, hopping out of the car with the boundless energy of a six-year-old anticipating a full afternoon of mild indulgence. "Marisol has light-up ones and hers flash different colors when she jumps.""We'll see what they have," Elena said, the familiar parental deflection slipping out easily, though she privately suspected the light-up shoes were a fairly likely outcome given how well the morning had already started.They found Emily w

Bab Lainnya

Anda juga akan menyukai

Jelajahi dan baca novel bagus secara gratis
Akses gratis ke berbagai novel bagus di aplikasi GoodNovel. Unduh buku yang kamu suka dan baca di mana saja & kapan saja.
Baca buku gratis di Aplikasi
Pindai kode untuk membaca di Aplikasi
DMCA.com Protection Status