Chapter 6: The Sealed Record
Emily held Ryan's phone against her ear.
“Tell me what it says.””
The school administrator sounded nervous.
“I can't discuss the details over the phone.””
“You just said it concerns my son's identity.””
“Yes.””
“Then tell me.””
“There is a sealed record attached to his enrollment file.””
Emily looked at Ryan.
He had gone pale.
Marcus stood beside the staircase, watching him.
The administrator continued.
“The record was added several years ago.””
“By whom?””
“We can't disclose that without verifying authorization.””
Emily's eyes hardened.
“I'm his mother.””
“Mrs. Moretti, I understand, but the authorization on file—”
“Whose name is on it?””
Silence.
Then:
“Ryan Moretti.””
Emily slowly lowered the phone.
Ryan looked away.
“You knew.””
“I knew there was a record.””
“What record?””
“I don't know what's inside.””
Marcus stepped forward.
“That's a lie.””
Ryan glared at him.
“You weren't there.””
“I was there when you created it.””
Emily turned.
“You created the record?””
Ryan rubbed his face.
“It was complicated.””
“No.””
Emily shook her head.
“It's not complicated anymore.””
She handed the phone back to Ryan.
“Take us to the school.””
Ryan didn't move.
Marcus said,
“She doesn't need to go.””
Emily looked at him.
“Why?””
“Because the record isn't at the school.””
Emily frowned.
“The woman said—”
“She thinks it is.””
Marcus pulled out his phone.
“I traced the file number.””
Ryan's eyes widened.
“Marcus.””
“It's here.””
He pointed toward the desk.
“The original is in this house.””
Emily looked at the locked drawer.
Her stomach tightened.
“What else is in there?””
Marcus looked at Ryan.
“Everything he couldn't destroy.””
Ryan suddenly rushed toward the desk.
Emily stepped into his path.
“No.””
Ryan stopped.
“Move.””
“No.””
“Emily, move.””
She didn't.
Ryan's voice became desperate.
“You don't know what that file will do to this family.””
Emily stared at him.
“You already did.””
She turned toward the desk.
Marcus opened the drawer fully.
There were more documents beneath the birth certificate.
A hospital bracelet.
A photograph.
A sealed envelope stamped with a medical center's logo.
Emily picked up the photograph.
It showed her.
Younger.
Pregnant.
Standing beside Marcus.
Her hand rested against her stomach.
She stared at it.
“I don't remember this.””
Marcus's voice softened.
“You weren't supposed to.””
Emily looked at him.
“What does that mean?””
Marcus swallowed.
“Ryan gave you medication after the accident.””
Ryan snapped,
“Stop.””
Emily turned.
“What accident?””
Ryan said nothing.
Marcus continued.
“You were pregnant. You were driving home one night when someone cut your brakes.””
Emily's face went blank.
“That never happened.””
“You don't remember because you hit your head.””
Ryan stepped forward.
“Marcus, enough.””
Emily looked at him.
“You told me I fainted.””
Ryan's silence was devastating.
Emily's voice trembled.
“You told me I fainted in the kitchen.””
“I was trying to protect you.””
“You lied about an accident?””
“I didn't know what else to do.””
Marcus shook his head.
“You knew exactly what you were doing.””
Emily opened the sealed envelope.
Inside was a medical report.
She read the first paragraph.
Then stopped.
Her eyes moved to a line near the bottom.
*Patient experienced memory disruption following traumatic injury.*
Emily looked up.
“You knew.””
Ryan's eyes filled with something that looked almost like regret.
“I was afraid.””
“Of what?””
“That you'd leave.””
Emily stared at him.
“So you erased my life?””
“No.””
“You erased my brother.””
“No.””
“You erased my son's father.””
Ryan looked at Ethan.
“I raised him.””
Marcus's voice was quiet.
“You stole him.””
Ryan's face hardened.
“I loved him.””
Marcus stepped closer.
“You loved owning him.””
Ryan shoved Marcus.
Marcus stumbled backward into the wall.
Emily immediately stepped between them.
“Stop!””
Ethan screamed.
“Don't hurt Uncle Marcus!””
Ryan froze.
The words hung in the air.
Uncle.
Not stranger.
Not ghost.
Family.
Ryan looked at Ethan.
Then at Emily.
“You've poisoned him against me.””
Emily's expression turned cold.
“He was afraid of you before Marcus came through that door.””
Ryan looked away.
A sound came from downstairs.
The front door opened.
Someone shouted,
“Police!””
Everyone froze.
Ryan turned toward the staircase.
“What?””
Another voice echoed through the mansion.
“Ryan Moretti! Step away from everyone and keep your hands where we can see them!””
Emily looked at Marcus.
“Did you call them?””
Marcus shook his head.
“No.””
Ryan stared at the staircase.
The color drained from his face.
Natalie suddenly whispered,
“They found us.””
Emily looked at her.
“Who?””
Natalie didn't answer.
The police footsteps grew louder.
Then a uniformed officer appeared at the top of the stairs.
He looked directly at Emily.
“Mrs. Moretti?””
“Yes?””
The officer's expression was grave.
“We need to speak with you about Ethan.””
Emily's stomach dropped.
“What happened?””
The officer looked toward Ryan.
Then back at her.
“We received a report this afternoon alleging that Ethan was being kept under unsafe conditions.””
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
She pulled Ethan closer.
The officer continued.
“But that's not why we're here.””
He held up a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was a second birth certificate.
Emily stared at it.
The officer said,
“We found this in a storage facility registered to Ryan Moretti.””
Ryan whispered,
“No…”
Emily looked at the document through the plastic.
This version had a different father listed.
And beneath that name was a date.
The date Ethan had supposedly been born.
Emily's face went pale.
May you like
Because the date was impossible.
It was *six months before she ever met Ryan*.
