Chapter 8 - THE MEMORY SOPHIA LOST
That night, I couldn't sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the same image.
Rain against a hospital window.
A hallway.
A man in a dark coat.
And my mother's voice.
Don't trust the name they give you.
I woke before dawn.
Bennett was sitting in the chair beside the bed.
He hadn't slept either.
“Did you remember something?”
I nodded.
“Maybe.”
“What?”
I told him about the hospital.
He listened carefully.
“Was it Daniel Reed?”
“I don't know.”
“Did you see his face?”
“No.”
Arthur entered the room.
“Then we need to find out.”
Jonathan had already obtained my old medical records.
The hospital visit occurred eight months and three weeks earlier.
I had been experiencing severe dehydration.
I had been admitted overnight.
The attending physician was listed as Dr. Samuel Reed.
But there was something unusual.
The medical record had been modified twice.
Arthur stared at the screen.
“Who changed it?”
Jonathan shook his head.
“Administrator credentials.”
“Whose?”
“Dr. Samuel Reed.”
My stomach tightened.
“Then he wasn't just treating me.”
“No.”
Jonathan opened another file.
“He accessed your genetic records the following morning.”
Bennett stood.
“Why?”
“To compare your DNA.”
Arthur looked at the report.
“The result was never filed.”
“Can we recover it?”
Jonathan nodded.
“I already did.”
He turned the laptop around.
A genetic comparison appeared.
My DNA.
Bennett's DNA.
And another unidentified sample.
I stared at the percentages.
“What does this mean?”
Jonathan pointed.
“The baby is biologically yours, Bennett.”
Bennett exhaled.
Then Jonathan pointed to the unidentified sample.
“But someone else submitted a sample claiming to be the baby's biological father.”
“Who?”
“Daniel Reed.”
Silence.
Bennett looked at me.
“Why would Daniel submit a sample?”
“I don't know.”
Arthur's expression hardened.
“Unless someone wanted to create a false paternity record.”
Jonathan nodded.
“The sample doesn't match the baby.”
Bennett looked confused.
“Then why?”
“To create doubt.”
I suddenly understood.
They weren't trying to prove the baby belonged to someone else.
They wanted to make Bennett believe it.
Because if he rejected me, the trust would become vulnerable.
I sat down.
“Then the accusation was never about cheating.”
“No,” Arthur said.
“It was about making Bennett abandon me.”
“Yes.”
“And Victoria knew.”
“Yes.”
I looked toward the door.
“Where is she?”
Jonathan shook his head.
“Gone.”
“What?”
“She disappeared during transfer.”
Bennett's face hardened.
“Who took her?”
Jonathan showed him a photograph from the security camera.
A black SUV.
Victoria was inside.
Beside her sat Thomas.
I felt a chill.
“He took her.”
Arthur nodded.
“And now he knows we have the genetic records.”
“What do we do?”
Arthur looked at me.
“We expose him first.”
We returned to the old Carter estate.
The files from the cellar were still there.
Jonathan searched every document.
Then he found something.
A ledger.
It contained payments made over twenty years.
Doctors.
Lawyers.
Private investigators.
Government officials.
Names I recognized.
Names I didn't.
And one repeated payment.
ST. MARY'S MATERNITY ARCHIVE.
My hands shook.
“That's where I was born.”
Jonathan nodded.
“The records were altered.”
Arthur looked at me.
“Your original birth certificate may still exist.”
We traveled to St. Mary's.
The hospital was almost abandoned.
An elderly archivist greeted us.
When he heard my name, he became nervous.
“Mrs. Carter?”
“Yes.”
“I've been waiting for you.”
My heart stopped.
“Why?”
He disappeared into a back room.
When he returned, he carried a sealed box.
“This was left here twenty-eight years ago.”
“For me?”
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
“Your mother.”
I opened it.
Inside were three birth records.
Mine.
Michael's.
And Lily's.
But Lily's was different.
The mother's name had been altered.
I looked closer.
The original name was still visible beneath the correction.
Eleanor Monroe.
I started crying.
My mother had given birth to Lily.
But the father was listed as:
Daniel Reed.
I looked at Arthur.
He didn't speak.
Then I noticed another document.
A paternity agreement.
It stated that Daniel Reed had been declared the biological father of all three children.
But that was impossible.
Michael and I were twins.
Daniel could be our father.
But why had my father's name been erased?
Arthur finally spoke.
“Because your mother didn't trust Daniel.”
“Then why did she put his name there?”
“Because she was protecting you.”
“How?”
“She wanted Thomas to believe Daniel was your father.”
I stared.
“What does Thomas care about Daniel?”
Arthur looked at the document.
“Everything.”
The archivist suddenly interrupted.
“There is another record.”
He handed us a small envelope.
“This arrived five years ago.”
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Daniel Reed.
Thomas Carter.
Victoria.
And a fourth person.
Bennett's late father.
All four were standing together.
I looked at Bennett.
He was speechless.
The photograph was dated eighteen years earlier.
Bennett whispered:
“My father knew Thomas.”
Arthur nodded.
“And Victoria knew too.”
Bennett's face darkened.
“My whole life was built around people lying to me.”
I touched his arm.
“I know.”
He looked at me.
“I am sorry.”
This time, I believed him.
Then the archivist said something that made all of us turn.
“Mrs. Carter?”
“Yes?”
“Your mother left one more instruction.”
“What?”
He pointed toward the basement.
“She said that if you ever came looking for the truth, you were to open the old maternity archive.”
We followed him downstairs.
The room smelled of dust.
Rows of paper files lined the walls.
He stopped at cabinet 27.
Inside was a single folder.
MONROE FAMILY — CONFIDENTIAL
I opened it.
The first page contained a photograph of my mother.
The second showed me as a baby.
The third showed Michael.
The fourth showed Lily.
But the fifth page was missing.
Jonathan noticed.
“Someone removed it.”
The archivist looked frightened.
“It was there yesterday.”
Arthur turned.
“Who had access?”
The old man hesitated.
“Someone came this morning.”
“Who?”
He whispered:
“Victoria.”
My heart stopped.
“She came here?”
“Yes.”
“Alone?”
“No.”
“Who was with her?”
The archivist pointed toward the basement door.
“An older man.”
Arthur immediately drew his weapon.
“Everyone move.”
The door slammed shut.
A voice came from the other side.
Thomas.
“You finally found it.”
I froze.
The lights went out.
May you like
And Thomas whispered:
“Now I'll tell you why your mother had three children…”
