Chapter 5: The Baby They Said Had Died
I had never seen my husband look at anything the way he looked at that photograph.
Not our wedding pictures.
Not the ultrasound images.
Not even the positive pregnancy test I had wrapped in a tiny pink gift box and handed him on the morning I discovered I was pregnant.
But the picture of two newborn babies made him look as though he were watching a grave open.
"Who is Nathan?"" I asked.
Cole stood beside the sofa, his hands clenched at his sides.
Daniel remained on the porch.
My mother had backed into the hallway and was gripping the wall for support.
Nobody answered.
I looked at the photograph again.
Two babies.
Two names.
One hospital.
One night.
And apparently, a secret so dangerous that my husband had accepted money to keep it buried.
"Tell me," I said.
Cole swallowed.
"Nathan was Daniel's son.""
"Your brother?""
He nodded.
"Was?""
Cole closed his eyes.
"He died when he was a baby.""
Daniel's expression hardened.
"That's what I was told.""
The room seemed to shrink around me.
I looked at the two men.
"You're telling me that a baby died, his father paid people to change hospital records, and somehow that has something to do with me?""
Daniel stepped inside after I moved away from the doorway.
"I don't know the full truth yet.""
I laughed bitterly.
"Then why are you here?""
"Because the original file was discovered during an archive review. The hospital contacted my attorney after finding discrepancies in the records.""
"What discrepancies?""
Daniel set the photograph on the coffee table.
"The records say Nathan was discharged to his mother. But his mother never brought him home. Three days later, I was told he had died from complications.""
My mother made a faint sound.
Daniel turned toward her.
"You told me the hospital had handled everything.""
Darla began shaking her head.
"I didn't know what they did after that.""
"You accepted money.""
"I accepted money to leave you alone!""
"And did you?""
Her face crumpled.
"I tried.""
I stood between them.
"Stop talking as if I'm not here!""
Daniel looked at me.
"You're right.""
I pointed at the photograph.
"Start again. Why were there two babies? Why were the records changed? And why did you pay my husband?""
Daniel took a breath.
"Three years ago, I received a letter from your mother. She said she had proof that Nathan's death had been falsified. She wanted money in exchange for the information.""
My mother stared at him.
"That isn't what happened.""
"Then tell us what happened," I said.
She pressed her palms against her eyes.
"I found the letter in your father's belongings after he died. Michael had kept copies of everything.""
"What everything?""
"The payments. The hospital documents. Letters from Daniel's lawyers.""
My throat tightened.
"Dad kept them?""
She nodded.
"He knew more than he ever told you.""
I thought of the old wooden desk in my father's study, the one we had donated after his funeral because my mother said she couldn't bear to look at it.
Had the truth been sitting inside that desk while I sorted through his clothes and cried over his old baseball cap?
"Where are those documents now?"" I asked.
"I don't know.""
"Mom!""
"I gave them to someone who said they could help me.""
"Who?""
She looked at Cole.
My husband looked away.
I turned toward him.
"Why are you always involved?""
He rubbed his face.
"Because I was the person who introduced her to the attorney.""
"Which attorney?""
"Martin Hale.""
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
"Martin Hale works for my company.""
The silence that followed was so complete that I heard a balloon deflate in the kitchen.
I looked at my mother.
"You gave evidence about my identity to one of his employees?""
"He said he could help me find out what happened to Nathan.""
"And then what?""
She sat down heavily.
"Then he said the documents were incomplete. He told me I needed to speak with Daniel directly.""
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"Martin never told me that.""
"Maybe because he didn't want you to know," I said.
For the first time, Daniel looked genuinely unsettled.
He took out his phone and made a call.
"Martin, it's Daniel. I need you at my house immediately. No, not tomorrow. Now.""
He listened for several seconds.
Then his expression darkened.
"Don't move anything in the archive. Do you understand me?""
He ended the call.
"What?"" I asked.
"Martin says the original file has disappeared.""
My mother began to sob.
I sat down because my legs could no longer hold me.
The baby kicked.
I placed both hands on my stomach and concentrated on the movement until I could breathe again.
Cole knelt in front of me.
"Emma, look at me.""
I turned my face away.
"Please.""
"What?""
"I need you to understand something. When Daniel first approached me, I didn't know anything about Nathan. I thought this was about your mother and some old financial dispute.""
"But you still took his money.""
"Yes.""
"And you still married me without telling me.""
He bowed his head.
"Yes.""
"Then what am I supposed to understand?""
His eyes filled with tears.
"That I fell in love with you before I understood how much trouble I was in.""
I stared at him.
"Did you ever plan to tell me?""
He hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
I stood.
"Get away from me.""
He rose slowly.
"Emma, please.""
"No. I need to think.""
I walked into the nursery and closed the door behind me.
The room smelled of fresh paint and baby detergent. A stuffed rabbit sat in the crib, its ears bent from the way I had held it while assembling the bedding.
On the dresser lay a stack of newborn clothes, each one folded carefully.
Cole had folded them with me.
He had held up the tiniest ones and laughed, saying our daughter would look like a little doll.
I sat in the rocking chair.
For a few minutes, I let myself cry.
Not quietly.
Not gracefully.
I cried until my throat hurt and my face felt swollen.
Then I heard a knock.
"Emma?"" my mother called.
I wiped my face.
"Go away.""
"I need to tell you something about your father.""
I closed my eyes.
"Which one?""
She didn't answer.
I got up and opened the door.
Darla stood in the hallway holding an old leather notebook.
I recognized it immediately.
It had belonged to Michael.
He used to keep grocery lists and household expenses in it. When I was little, I had drawn a crooked smiley face on the inside cover, and he had told me he would keep it forever.
I hadn't seen it since his funeral.
"Where did you get that?"" I whispered.
"It was in a box in my closet.""
I took it from her.
The leather was cracked at the corners. Inside, my father's handwriting filled the first several pages.
Electricity bill.
Car repairs.
Emma's school shoes.
A note reminding himself to buy my favorite strawberry ice cream.
Then, halfway through the notebook, the entries stopped.
The next page contained a date from the year I was born.
Beneath it was a single sentence.
Darla says Daniel's people have taken the baby.
My fingers went cold.
I read it again.
Then I turned the page.
Another entry.
The hospital insists there has been a mistake. They say Emma is our daughter. I know she is. But I saw the other child, and I know what I heard.
I looked at my mother.
"What does this mean?""
She shook her head violently.
"I don't know what Michael meant.""
I turned another page.
The writing became hurried, almost illegible.
If anything happens to me, Emma must never be left alone with Daniel. He believes he can buy the truth. He believes money makes him untouchable.
The final entry was dated three days before my father's death.
I found Nathan's mother. She says the boy is alive. She says he has been living under another name.
My breath stopped.
I looked at the date.
My father had died in a car accident sixteen years earlier.
He had never mentioned Nathan.
He had never told me he was searching for a missing child.
And yet he had known.
He had known there was a boy who might still be alive.
"Mom," I whispered, "did Dad die looking for Nathan?""
She covered her mouth.
"I don't know.""
I flipped through the remaining pages.
A name appeared again and again.
Martin Hale.
Beside it, my father had written several phone numbers, a street address, and a note:
Ask him who signed the second discharge form.
I photographed the page with my phone.
Then I heard footsteps behind me.
Cole stood in the doorway.
His eyes went immediately to the notebook.
"Where did you get that?""
I held it against my chest.
"Why does everyone keep asking me that instead of answering my questions?""
He looked frightened.
"Emma, give it to me.""
"No.""
"Please. You don't understand what you're holding.""
"Then explain it.""
He stepped into the room and closed the door.
For the first time since I had caught him kissing my mother, he looked directly at me without trying to soften his expression.
"Your father was investigating Daniel before he died," he said.
"He believed Nathan had been taken from the hospital and raised by someone else.""
"Who?""
Cole swallowed.
"He believed the baby had been given to a family that couldn't have children.""
I stared at him.
"Do you know who raised Nathan?""
He nodded slowly.
"Yes.""
"Who?""
Cole looked at the notebook.
Then he looked at my stomach.
And when he spoke, his voice was barely audible.
"The family that raised Nathan was the family that raised me.""
I couldn't move.
Cole took a step closer.
"My parents adopted me when I was three days old. They always told me my biological parents had died in an accident.""
I stared at him.
"You were adopted?""
"Yes.""
"And you never told me?""
"I didn't know anything about the hospital records until Daniel showed me the file three years ago.""
My head spun.
"You think you're Nathan?""
He nodded.
I backed away until my shoulders touched the wall.
"No.""
"Emma—"
"No. You cannot be my biological father's missing son. You cannot be the baby from that hospital. You cannot be the child my father spent his final months trying to find.""
"I didn't believe it at first.""
"But you believed it enough to take Daniel's money.""
His face crumpled.
"Yes.""
I looked at the notebook.
My father had searched for this child.
My husband might be that child.
And if he was, then the truth about our marriage was even more complicated than I had imagined.
But one question still burned through everything else.
"Why did Daniel pay you to marry me?""
Cole looked as though he wanted to disappear.
"Because he suspected I was Nathan.""
I stared at him.
"Then why didn't he tell you?""
"Because he wanted proof before he acknowledged me. And he wanted to know whether you were involved in whatever happened to the original records.""
I shook my head.
"I was a child.""
"I know.""
"Then why would he suspect me?""
Cole's voice broke.
"Because the original file says the girl who left the hospital that night wasn't the girl who was born under your name.""
My hand flew to my mouth.
He took a shaky breath.
"Emma, I think we need to find out whether you were switched at birth.""
Before I could answer, my phone rang.
An unknown number.
I answered without speaking.
A woman whispered from the other end.
"Is this Emma Bennett?""
"Yes.""
"My name is Sarah Whitmore. I was married to Daniel when you were born.""
I gripped the phone.
"What do you want?""
"I know where Nathan is.""
I looked at Cole.
He had gone completely still.
May you like
The woman continued.
"And if Daniel finds him first, he will make sure neither of you ever learns the truth.""
