The morning after our attorney contacted the clinic, I received a call from Dr. Harrison.
He wanted Emily and me to come in again.
This time, he said the genetic specialist would be present.
I immediately called Emily.
"They found something else."
She was quiet for a moment.
"Is it about Daniel?"
"I think so."
"Then I'll meet you there."
I put on my coat and picked up Rebecca's letter.
I had started carrying it everywhere.
Somehow, having her handwriting close to me made the uncertainty easier to bear.
Emily arrived at the clinic shortly after I did.
She looked tired.
Neither of us had been sleeping well.
We entered the consultation room together.
Dr. Harrison was sitting beside Dr. Patel.
There were several new documents on the desk.
Our attorney was also present.
I recognized the brown folder Michael Turner had provided.
It had been placed beside the laboratory reports.
Dr. Patel greeted us.
"Thank you for coming. We've made some progress."
I sat down.
Emily immediately asked the question we had both been thinking about.
"Have you established whether Daniel Whitmore was the donor?"
Dr. Patel looked at Dr. Harrison.
He nodded.
"We've identified an important inconsistency in the historical records."
I felt my stomach tighten.
"What inconsistency?"
Dr. Harrison explained that the donor identification number appeared in more than one administrative record.
However, the documents had been created at different times.
Some information had been transferred between systems.
Other information had been entered manually.
The clinic was now checking whether the sample associated with the donor profile had been correctly identified.
I looked at him.
"So you still don't know who provided it?"
"Not conclusively."
Emily leaned forward.
"Then what have you found?"
Dr. Patel opened a document.
She explained that the genetic comparison showed a relationship pattern that required further investigation.
But the available archived material could not establish Daniel's identity on its own.
I felt frustrated.
We had been waiting for answers for weeks.
Every appointment seemed to bring another question.
Our attorney asked whether the clinic had found any evidence of a sample substitution.
Dr. Harrison answered carefully.
"There is an administrative discrepancy. We have not established that a sample was deliberately substituted."
That distinction mattered.
I didn't want to accuse anyone without evidence.
But I also didn't want the clinic to dismiss something serious as a paperwork mistake.
Emily pointed toward the old document.
"What about this reference to Rebecca?"
Dr. Harrison examined it.
He explained that the clinic had located a second archived note.
It appeared that someone had requested information about an older donor record years earlier.
The request had not been completed.
The name on the request was Rebecca Whitmore.
I stopped breathing for a moment.
Our mother.
She had been looking for the same answers we were now searching for.
"Did she know the donor was connected to our father?"
Dr. Harrison shook his head.
"We cannot determine what she knew."
Emily looked at me.
I could see the same thought in her eyes.
Rebecca had tried to investigate something.
But she had died before she could tell anyone what she found.
Dr. Patel then returned to the medical issue.
She explained that our pregnancies needed to be assessed according to the confirmed biological information.
She had reviewed our existing results and recommended further specialist evaluation.
She also reminded us that a possible genetic risk was not the same as a confirmed diagnosis.
I appreciated her repeating that.
I needed to hear it.
Emily asked whether the babies were developing normally.
Dr. Patel reviewed the latest prenatal information.
"At present, the available examinations have not established the condition you're afraid of. We will continue monitoring both pregnancies."
Emily began crying.
I reached for her hand.
For a moment, the room felt less frightening.
Then our attorney asked about the next stage of the investigation.
Dr. Harrison said the clinic was attempting to retrieve the original donor documentation from its previous records provider.
If the original identification information could be authenticated, it might help establish the chain of custody.
He also said that any further genetic comparison would require appropriate consent and reliable reference samples.
I nodded.
We agreed to cooperate.
After the appointment, Emily and I went to the reception area.
She sat down.
I remained standing beside her.
"Sarah, do you think Mom knew we were sisters?"
"She knew."
"No. I mean, did she know the donor issue could happen?"
I looked at Rebecca's letter.
"I think she knew something about Daniel that we haven't discovered yet."
Emily covered her face.
"I wish we had asked her more questions when we were younger."
I sat beside her.
"We didn't know what to ask."
That afternoon, we visited Helen.
She was in the garden when we arrived.
She had been watering the flowers.
When she saw us, she immediately put down the watering can.
"Did you get the results?"
I told her what the clinic had found.
She listened without interrupting.
Then I showed her the new document containing Rebecca's old request.
Helen stared at it.
Her hands began shaking.
"I remember this."
Emily stepped closer.
"You remember Rebecca asking about the donor records?"
Helen nodded.
"She came to my house one evening with a folder. She said she needed help understanding something."
"What did she say?"
Helen looked away.
"She said Daniel had used another name once."
I felt cold.
"Another name?"
Helen nodded.
"She didn't tell me exactly why. She only said that the information he had given her about his past didn't always match."
Emily sat down on the garden bench.
"Why didn't you tell us?"
Helen looked at her daughter.
"Because I didn't understand it myself. And after Rebecca died, I was afraid of reopening everything."
I looked at the flowers.
Then I asked another question.
"Did Rebecca ever tell you where Daniel went after the river incident?"
Helen shook her head.
"No. But she always believed he might still be alive."
I remembered the anonymous letter.
The old photographs.
The clinic records.
And the name that had followed us from childhood into our pregnancies.
Nothing seemed accidental anymore.
Before we left, Helen went inside and returned with a small envelope.
She handed it to Emily.
"I kept this because I thought one day you might need it."
Emily opened it.
Inside was a handwritten note from Rebecca.
There were only a few lines.
But one sentence stood out.
"If Daniel ever comes looking for the girls, make sure someone checks his identity before believing anything he says."
Emily looked at me.
We both understood what that meant.
Our mother had been worried about more than his behavior.
She had been worried about who he really was.
Click here to continue reading: PART 14: A Second Letter From Rebecca Revealed Why She Feared Daniel, and the Clinic Finally Agreed to Examine the Original Donor Records
The Promise Two Little Girls Made Twenty-Five Years Ago Was About to Change Both Their Lives Forever
Part 13 of 20
