Wrong Sperm Right Love

ra'

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ty Center, I didn't expect my life to shatter an

nal smile as I filled out forms that would determine the course of my future. I wasn't supposed to be nervous. This was supposed to be simple cli

own, I'd decided I didn't need a man to define my life. I'd saved enough, worked

ece

fam

fut

ht coil of anxiety in my chest. It wasn't doubt about becoming a mother. No, that part

ke through my thoughts, soft yet a

ough a corridor lined with motivational posters about "Hope," "Family," and "Mir

-

ce. He was a kind-looking man with silver hair and

ation procedure. We've reviewed your file, and everythin

e steady despite the s

ou with a donor based on your preferences medical history, genetics,

y health record. He looked like the blueprint of a man who had everything, but he was a faceless strange

out me taki

-

se humming softly as she prepared instruments. I closed my eyes, breathing deeply, tel

ing... hopeful. For the first time in ye

-

three y

rtment, watching my two-year-old son stack colorful

as he furrowed his brows in frustration, trying

for his age, and my heart squeezed the way it always did when I lo

e was

y m

old life in the bustling city behind, trading corporate ladders and late-night meetings for b

never last

-

ed with

ack of bills and a flyer for a neighborhood bake sale. No return

me generic advertisement, but the moment

ra

St. Mary's Fertility Center on February 14th, three years ago. After an internal review, it has

our child is not Donor 204

ct our offic

om my fingers and flu

an B

nd of man whose name was printed in glossy magazines and whispered in boardrooms. Cold, b

was the fath

-

it might rewrite itself if I blinked hard enough. Liam babbled

be a mistake

g steel-blue eyes, dark hair perfectly styled. He looked like the kind of man who'd never had a hair ou

of Liam's

opped into

-

low of my laptop casting harsh shadows across my cluttered countertop. Adrian Blake's empire sprawled across the int

no idea h

-

ll came the

"This is Amanda Chen, Mr. Blake's assistant. I beli

autiously, my s

e to meet with you.

tightene

ll send a car t

end this wasn't happening. But this wasn't just about me any

-

impossibly expensive. I strapped Liam into his c

I'd stepped into another world. The lobby was cavernous, all marble and steel, with men an

s approached me with a polite smile. "Mr.

heart pounding so hard it fel

-

en I s

kyline stretching out behind him like a painting. He tur

th a presence that sucked all the oxygen out of the room. His

ered there. Jus

s voice deep, smooth, an

m close as Adrian's

know why you're

I whi

aste time." He leaned forward, eyes

y mouth to respond, but before I could, Liam reached out a

ut his hand-large, strong, terrifyin

time, I saw a cr

-

for custody," Ad

an cold. "

on will not grow up

m tighter. "Yo

ed, his voice icy. "A

. "Unle

air, studying me like I was

u agree to

I asked, my

ed smile spread

rry

in the air li