Chapter 5: The Father Who Disappeared
I hadn't spoken Marcus Reed's name aloud in years.
Not because I had forgotten him.
Because forgetting him was impossible.
I remembered the way he used to tap twice on my apartment door before entering, even when he had a key. I remembered him singing off-key while assembling Lily's crib, arguing that the instructions were wrong, then apologizing when he discovered he had attached the frame backward.
Most of all, I remembered the hospital.
The pale blue walls. The smell of disinfectant. The tiny bracelet around Lily's wrist.
Marcus had held our newborn daughter against his chest and cried.
“I'll never let anything happen to her,” he had whispered.
Three days later, he disappeared.
Now his name was circled in red on a hospital report connected to a compromised newborn identification record.
I gripped the edge of the table.
“Why was Marcus in the newborn ward?””
Renee folded her hands.
“His name appears on the visitor access log.””
“He was Lily's father.””
“That gave him access to your room, but not unrestricted access to the nursery.””
“Did he take her bracelet?””
“I can't say that. The report doesn't identify who removed it.””
I looked at Loretta.
“Did you know about this?””
My mother didn't answer.
“Mom.””
She adjusted the strap of her handbag.
“Marcus was a liar.””
“That doesn't answer my question.””
“He was irresponsible. He made promises he couldn't keep.””
“I know he left. I was there.””
“And you still defended him.””
I stared at her.
“He was Lily's father.””
“According to what you were told.””
The room seemed to tilt.
I gripped the table more tightly.
“What does that mean?””
Loretta glanced at Daniel.
He shook his head slightly.
“Mrs. Johnson,” he said, “I strongly recommend that you stop making unsupported statements.””
She gave him a cold look.
“You were hired to protect my interests.””
“I was hired to assess the evidence and represent my client within the law. That doesn't include helping you intimidate your daughter.””
For the first time, I saw my mother look at Daniel as though he had betrayed her.
Then she turned back to me.
“You want answers? Fine. Marcus had debts.
He lied about his work. He disappeared when responsibility became inconvenient.””
“Why was he in the newborn ward?””
“Ask him.””
“If you knew where he was, you would have told me.””
Loretta's silence answered before her words did.
“You knew where he was.””
I felt sick.
She looked away.
Renee quietly closed the folder.
“Nia, I need you to understand something. The hospital record doesn't prove that Lily was switched, and it doesn't establish anyone's biological relationship. It shows that the identification process was compromised and that the subsequent investigation may have been incomplete.””
I nodded slowly.
“Then we find the original verification record.””
“That would be the best next step.””
Daniel checked his watch.
“I can contact the hospital's legal department and request preservation of the archived records. I'll also notify the court that the petition contains disputed evidence.””
Loretta's expression turned furious.
“You cannot do that without my approval.””
“I can raise concerns about the evidence before the court.””
“You will regret this.””
Daniel slipped the papers into his briefcase.
“Perhaps. But not as much as I would regret ignoring them.””
He walked toward the reception desk to make a call.
I turned to Renee.
“Can you help me find Marcus?””
She hesitated.
“I haven't spoken to him in years.””
“But you know where he went?””
“Not exactly.””
“Renee, please.””
She looked at Lily, who was sitting on a lobby chair with her rabbit in her lap, trying to dry its wet ears with a napkin.
Then Renee lowered her voice.
“About two months after Lily was born, I received an envelope at the hospital. It contained a photocopy of a visitor log and a handwritten note. The note said that Marcus had been threatened into leaving town.””
“Threatened by whom?””
“I don't know. There was no signature.””
I glanced toward Loretta.
My mother had moved several feet away and was pretending to read something on her phone.
“Why didn't you tell me this before?””
“Because I couldn't verify it. And because the envelope disappeared from the records room before I could make a copy.””
I felt anger rise in my chest.
“Everyone knew something, and everyone kept quiet.””
“Not everyone,” Renee said.
“I was trying to find the truth.””
I looked down at Lily.
She was watching me carefully.
I forced myself to soften my expression.
“Sweetheart, would you like some hot chocolate?””
She nodded.
I ordered a drink from the hotel café and sat beside her while it cooled. She held the cup with both hands, taking tiny sips.
“Mommy?””
“Yes?””
“Is Daddy coming back?””
The question nearly undid me.
I brushed a damp strand of hair away from her forehead.
“I don't know, baby.””
“Grandma said Daddy left because he didn't want me.””
My throat tightened.
“Your father leaving was a decision he made. It wasn't your fault.””
“But she said he knew something was wrong with me.””
I went still.
“What?””
Lily stared into her cup.
“She said Daddy didn't want a sick little girl.””
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“Did she tell you that today?””
Lily shook her head.
“She told me last week. She said I shouldn't ask questions because it made her sad.””
I glanced toward Loretta.
She had stopped pretending to read her phone.
I stood.
“What did you tell Lily about her father?””
My mother slid her phone into her handbag.
“The truth.””
“What truth?””
“That Marcus couldn't handle the reality of having a child.””
“You just told me to ask him about the hospital.””
“Because I don't owe you another explanation.””
“You owe Lily the truth.””
Loretta's eyes narrowed.
“You have no idea what I've protected you from.””
“Then stop protecting me and start telling me.””
She looked at Lily.
“Some truths are too painful for children.””
I stepped between them.
“Then you should never have used them to frighten her.””
Loretta's mouth tightened.
She reached into her handbag and removed a small photograph.
She held it out to me.
It showed Marcus standing outside a hospital room, holding a paper bag. The image was grainy, as though it had been taken from a security camera.
On the back, someone had written a date.
Three days after Lily's birth.
I turned the photograph over.
“Where did you get this?””
“From someone who understood what was happening.””
“Who?””
She withdrew the photograph from my hand.
“You're not ready for that answer.””
I reached for it again, but she tucked it away.
“Give it back.””
“No.””
I looked at her, stunned.
“You can't keep handing me pieces of the truth and then snatching them away.””
“I'm trying to stop you from destroying your daughter's life.””
“You left her in the rain!””
Her face tightened, and for a moment, I thought she might strike me.
Instead, she leaned close.
“Tomorrow morning, the court will hear evidence that you are emotionally unstable, financially irresponsible, and incapable of providing a safe environment for Lily. You can spend tonight chasing ghosts, or you can accept that I am the only person in this family who can protect her.””
I stared at her.
“You forged my signature.””
“Prove it.””
“You lied to the court.””
“Prove it.””
“You frightened a six-year-old child into believing her mother would abandon her.””
Loretta's expression hardened.
“I did what I had to do.””
Then she turned and walked toward the elevators.
I watched her go, my hands trembling.
Behind me, Daniel returned from the reception desk.
“I've contacted the hospital's legal department,” he said.
“They're reviewing the archive request.””
“Can they find the original verification record?””
“They may be able to. But there's something else.””
He held up his phone.
“I received a message from the court clerk. Someone submitted additional evidence to the case this morning.””
“What evidence?””
“A statement allegedly written by Marcus Reed.””
I couldn't breathe.
Daniel turned the screen toward me.
The statement claimed Marcus had voluntarily relinquished all parental rights shortly after Lily's birth.
At the bottom was a signature.
Marcus Reed.
I stared at it.
The handwriting looked authentic.
But the date was wrong.
The statement had been signed two days before Lily was born.
And beneath the signature, a final sentence had been typed in bold.
*THE BIOLOGICAL PATERNITY OF THE CHILD IS NOT IN DISPUTE.*
I looked up at Daniel.
“Why would anyone write that sentence if nobody was questioning his paternity?””
Daniel didn't answer.
Renee took the phone and examined the document.
May you like
Then she went pale.
“Because,” she whispered, “someone was already preparing for a paternity dispute before Lily was even born.””
