Daniel met me two days later with another folder.<\/p>\n
This time, he didn't bring coffee.<\/p>\n
He brought copies of corporate records, laboratory invoices, and messages between employees.<\/p>\n
I sat across from him and waited.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe technician is willing to speak with you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf Brendan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf his father.\u201d<\/p>\n
I folded my hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen let's hear what she knows.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her name was Evelyn Hart.<\/p>\n
She arrived twenty minutes later.<\/p>\n
She looked exhausted.<\/p>\n
The first thing she did was apologize.<\/p>\n
\u201cI should have spoken sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn't tell her it was okay.<\/p>\n
It wasn't.<\/p>\n
Instead, I asked, \u201cWhy did you process my blood?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was instructed to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Marcus Vance.\u201d<\/p>\n
I knew the name.<\/p>\n
Brendan's father.<\/p>\n
He had always been introduced to me as a successful investor with philanthropic interests.<\/p>\n
I had met him twice.<\/p>\n
Both times, he had been polite.<\/p>\n
Both times, I had felt as though he were studying me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he want?\u201d<\/p>\n
Evelyn hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cA sample.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn't tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did you follow the instruction?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause it came through the medical director.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn't know the request had been arranged outside normal procedures until later.\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked about the emergency story.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Brendan know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw his friends at the clinic.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn't what I asked.\u201d<\/p>\n
She swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel placed another document on the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvelyn told us that someone from Brendan's group delivered a file containing Chloe's information.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat information?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy blood type. Medical history. Previous test results.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt my chest tighten.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho had access to those?\u201d<\/p>\n
Evelyn shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered something.<\/p>\n
Three years earlier, Brendan had insisted on knowing everything about my health after I fainted during rehearsal.<\/p>\n
At the time, I thought he was worried.<\/p>\n
Now I wondered whether he had been collecting information.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he ever ask for my medical records?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer came immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeveral times.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI assumed he was helping you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed without humor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat seems to be everyone's excuse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody responded.<\/p>\n
Daniel opened another document.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is where the story becomes complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n
He showed me a transfer authorization.<\/p>\n
My blood had been assigned a research code.<\/p>\n
Not my name.<\/p>\n
A number.<\/p>\n
But beneath the code was a handwritten note.<\/p>\n
Potential familial compatibility.<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cFamilial with whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could mean the researchers were looking for a specific biological marker.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at the page.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy mine?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe haven't established that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen establish it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel nodded.<\/p>\n
Evelyn looked uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is something I haven't told you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned toward her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sample wasn't the only thing collected.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat else?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA second tube.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGenetic testing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room seemed to tilt.<\/p>\n
I stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid I consent to that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
My hands began shaking.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen someone stole my DNA.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel corrected gently, \u201cPotentially.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't soften it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn't answer.<\/p>\n
I paced toward the window.<\/p>\n
The anger was different now.<\/p>\n
The revenge archive had been cruel.<\/p>\n
This felt invasive.<\/p>\n
Someone had taken something biological from me and sent it somewhere without telling me.<\/p>\n
Something I could never replace.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is the sample now?\u201d<\/p>\n
Evelyn said, \u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho does?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe research company.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt closed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen where did the samples go?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at Daniel.<\/p>\n
He answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cA storage facility.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned around.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPhoenix.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many times has my life crossed that place without me knowing?\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn't respond.<\/p>\n
We spent the following week requesting records.<\/p>\n
The process was slow.<\/p>\n
Some files were incomplete.<\/p>\n
Others had been archived.<\/p>\n
Several departments claimed they couldn't locate the relevant documentation.<\/p>\n
Then Daniel found an inventory record.<\/p>\n
There had been hundreds of biological samples.<\/p>\n
Most were transferred to a university laboratory after the research division closed.<\/p>\n
Mine was listed separately.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy separately?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause someone requested its removal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
The request had been signed by Marcus Vance.<\/p>\n
My anger became almost impossible to contain.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere was it sent?\u201d<\/p>\n
A private storage facility.<\/p>\n
No university.<\/p>\n
No hospital.<\/p>\n
No approved research institution.<\/p>\n
Private storage.<\/p>\n
I asked whether we could retrieve it.<\/p>\n
Daniel said we were working on it.<\/p>\n
Then he added something that stopped me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere's another issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe request to isolate your sample was made before your donation.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
He showed me the date.<\/p>\n
The request had been created three days before the fake accident.<\/p>\n
Three days.<\/p>\n
The prank had been planned.<\/p>\n
The blood donation had been planned.<\/p>\n
But the research request had existed first.<\/p>\n
That meant Brendan's friends hadn't invented the hospital story by themselves.<\/p>\n
Someone else had already decided that I needed to donate blood.<\/p>\n
I sat down.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrendan knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut his friends were at the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd his father's company requested my blood before the accident.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo either Brendan knew, or someone used him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the question.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought about the number ninety-six.<\/p>\n
The way they had laughed.<\/p>\n
The way Brendan had said I always got involved.<\/p>\n
Maybe he had known more than he admitted.<\/p>\n
Or maybe his friends had used his obsession with revenge to hide something else.<\/p>\n
The possibility made my skin crawl.<\/p>\n
That evening, I called Scarlett.<\/p>\n
She answered after several rings.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was wondering when you'd call.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew about the research?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat research?\u201d<\/p>\n
I explained.<\/p>\n
When I finished, she didn't speak.<\/p>\n
\u201cScarlett?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew Brendan's father had an interest in you.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe asked about your family.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYears ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou do know something.\u201d<\/p>\n
She exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father.\u201d<\/p>\n
I froze.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore you met Brendan, your father worked with a medical company.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered.<\/p>\n
Dad had mentioned consulting work years earlier.<\/p>\n
I had never paid much attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat company?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVance Biomedical.\u201d<\/p>\n
My breath caught.<\/p>\n
Brendan's father's company.<\/p>\n
Scarlett continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard them arguing once. Brendan's father wanted access to something your father had developed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn't you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Brendan told me your father had stolen something from his family.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
The pieces weren't fitting yet.<\/p>\n
But they were beginning to form a shape.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father didn't steal anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I found something after Brendan and I stopped speaking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA message from his father.\u201d<\/p>\n
She sent it to me.<\/p>\n
I opened the attachment.<\/p>\n
There were only two sentences.<\/p>\n
The first said my name.<\/p>\n
The second said:<\/p>\n
She has no idea what her father took from us.<\/p>\n
I stared at the screen.<\/p>\n
For the first time, I understood that Brendan's hatred might never have been about Scarlett.<\/p>\n
It might never have been about the championship.<\/p>\n
Those things could have been excuses.<\/p>\n
The real reason might have started with our families long before Brendan and I ever met.<\/p>\n
Daniel met me two days later with another folder. This time, he didn't bring coffee. He brought copies of corporate records, laboratory invoices, and messages between employees. I sat across … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sharestory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5761"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5761\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5773,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5761\/revisions\/5773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5755"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}