Chapter 10: The Investigation Deepens
While the domestic front achieved a tense, functional equilibrium, the external world refused to let the Sterling family heal in peace. Down at the county courthouse, federal investigators from the Department of Health and Human Services were subpoenaing the complete digital archives of the downtown reproductive clinic.
Mark sat in the back row of the public gallery, wearing his light blue button-down shirt and a dark blazer, watching the preliminary deposition of the clinic’s former head administrator. The man looked broken, his hair unkempt, sweating profusely under the blinding glare of the television cameras camped outside the courtroom doors.
“State for the record your direct involvement in the database cross-indexing failure of November last year,” the federal prosecutor demanded, holding up a stack of encrypted server logs.
“It was an automated migration glitch,” the administrator stammered, his voice echoing off the mahogany paneling. “We were transitioning from legacy software to a cloud-based patient registry. The system flagged a duplicate identifier between the Sterling family files, and the night-shift technician applied a manual override without running secondary DNA verification protocols.”
Mark felt his jaw tighten. A manual override. A lazy keystroke by an exhausted technician had nearly destroyed his family and thrown two sisters into a devastating war of biology and law.
When the morning session adjourned, Mark walked out through the swarm of reporters, keeping his head down as flashbulbs popped like miniature lightning storms. He slid into his parked sedan, pulling his phone out to call Beatrice.
“The hearing is worse than we thought, Beatrice,” Mark said into the Bluetooth earpiece as he navigated away from the courthouse. “The clinic didn't just mess up one file. They’ve discovered systemic data tampering across at least forty patient records over a three-year period. The federal prosecutor believes it was covered up by upper management to avoid an insurance hike.”
“Good grief,” Beatrice’s voice crackled over the speakers, steady despite the grim news. “Does Chloe know about the wider scope?”
May you like
“Not yet. I wanted to confirm it with Marcus before we brought it up in the house. If there are forty other families affected, our personal custody arrangement is going to become part of a massive national class-action suit. The media won't leave the estate alone once the names are unsealed.”
“Then we secure the perimeter,” Beatrice instructed without hesitation. “Hire private security for the gates, cut off all unverified visitor access, and make sure Elena and Chloe are entirely insulated from the press cycle. We protect the household first.”
