Chapter 8: The Truth Behind the Two Bracelets
The pounding stopped.
For three seconds, the house was silent.
Then Loretta called through the door again.
“Evelyn, I know you're in there. Don't make me do this in front of the child.””
I pulled Lily behind me.
Evelyn's hands shook as she reached for the photograph.
“Please,” she whispered.
“Don't let her have it.””
I picked up the picture and slipped it into my jacket.
“Why is she so afraid of this?””
Evelyn stared at the door.
“Because that photograph proves the babies were together. She spent years insisting the records were confused because the hospital had made a clerical mistake.””
“And you believe that isn't true?””
“I believe the hospital made mistakes. But I also believe someone used those mistakes to conceal what happened afterward.””
The handle turned.
The door remained locked.
Then Loretta spoke in a different voice, one I recognized from childhood.
Soft. Patient. Almost affectionate.
“Nia, sweetheart, please open the door. We can talk about this like a family.””
I almost laughed.
My mother had always known how to make cruelty sound like concern.
I moved toward the entrance.
Renee caught my arm.
“Don't let her turn this into a confrontation she can use against you tomorrow.””
I stopped.
Loretta knocked again.
“Your daughter is tired. She needs to go back to the hotel.””
I looked at Lily.
She was standing beside the sofa, hugging her rabbit, her eyes fixed on the door.
“No,” I called.
“She stays with me.””
My mother's voice sharpened.
“You have no idea what you're doing.””
“Then explain it.””
“Open the door.””
“Tell me why you received DNA results six years ago.””
Silence.
I heard the faint sound of Loretta shifting her handbag.
Then she said, “Those results were inconclusive.””
Evelyn closed her eyes.
I turned toward her.
“Is that true?””
“I don't know,” she whispered.
“I never saw the report.””
I faced the door again.
“Then why did you keep the results from Evelyn?””
“You're making accusations based on documents you don't understand.””
“Then show me the original report.””
“You don't need it.””
“Why?””
“Because it won't change anything.””
My heart pounded.
“What won't it change?””
Loretta's voice dropped.
“Lily is your daughter. You raised her. You love her. Whatever happened in that hospital is irrelevant.””
I looked at Lily.
My daughter was listening to every word.
I lowered my voice.
“Then why are you trying to take her away from me?””
No answer came.
Instead, I heard the unmistakable sound of a key entering the lock.
Evelyn rushed forward.
“Loretta, don't!””
The door opened.
My mother stepped inside.
She wore the same floral blouse she'd worn at the hotel, though the sleeves were now dry and neatly folded. Her handbag hung from her shoulder, and her expression was composed enough to fool anyone who didn't know her.
Her gaze swept across the room.
Then it landed on the photograph in my hand.
“Give it to me.””
“No.””
She extended her palm.
“Nia, don't make this worse.””
I held the photograph tighter.
“Tell me what happened.””
Loretta looked at Evelyn.
“You should have stayed out of this.””
Evelyn straightened.
“I stayed out of it for six years. Look where that got us.””
“You were protecting yourself.””
“I was protecting Marcus.””
Loretta laughed bitterly.
“Marcus needed protecting from himself.””
“Did you threaten him?””
My mother's expression changed.
Only for a moment.
But I saw it.
Evelyn stepped closer.
“Did you tell him that if he stayed, you'd make sure he never saw his daughter?””
Loretta placed her handbag on the side table.
“I told him he wasn't ready to be a father.””
“You told him he had no right to question the hospital records.””
“He was unstable.””
“He was twenty-four and frightened!””
“And he was about to make a terrible mistake.””
I stepped between them.
“What mistake?””
Loretta turned toward me.
“You were barely surviving. You had no money, no husband, no stable future. I was trying to give you a chance.””
“By doing what?””
She pressed her lips together.
“By making sure Lily had a family that could support her.””
“I am her family.””
“You were a child yourself when you had her.””
“I was twenty-eight!””
“You were naive.””
“And you were controlling.””
Her face hardened.
“You have no idea what it cost me to keep this family together.””
I took a step closer.
“Then tell me what you did.””
Loretta looked toward Lily.
For the first time, she seemed to realize that the child she'd tried to frighten into silence was listening to every word.
She softened her voice.
“Lily, sweetheart, why don't you go with Evelyn for a moment?””
“No,” Lily whispered.
Loretta's eyes narrowed.
“I'm asking you nicely.””
I moved in front of my daughter.
“She said no.””
My mother straightened.
“Fine.””
She turned to Evelyn.
“Do you want the truth? Marcus came to me the night the babies were born. He was convinced something was wrong with the records. He said the hospital had mixed up the bracelets.””
Evelyn covered her mouth.
“And you told him?””
“I told him he was exhausted and imagining things.””
“Why?””
“Because the hospital had already reviewed the incident.””
“Under your statement,” Renee said sharply.
Loretta glared at her.
“Stay out of this.””
“No,” Renee replied.
“I should have spoken up years ago, and I won't be intimidated again.””
My mother ignored her.
She looked at me.
“Marcus wanted to demand another test. He wanted to drag you through a scandal before you had even recovered from childbirth. I convinced him to leave until things settled down.””
“You convinced him to leave?””
“I gave him money.””
The room went silent.
I stared at her.
“You paid him to abandon us?””
“I paid him to stay away until I could understand what was happening.””
“How much?””
Loretta's jaw tightened.
“That doesn't matter.””
“How much?””
“Twenty thousand dollars.””
Evelyn let out a broken sound.
“You bought my son.””
“I kept him from destroying two families.””
“You destroyed his family yourself!””
Loretta's voice rose.
“You think I wanted this? You think I wanted to spend six years watching everyone tear each other apart?””
I felt tears burning behind my eyes.
“You watched me cry over him. You watched me raise Lily believing he didn't want us. You let me think I wasn't enough.””
“You were never the problem.””
“Then why did you make me believe I was?””
For a moment, Loretta looked almost human.
Her eyes filled.
Then she reached into her handbag and removed a folded document.
“I have something that will explain everything.””
She placed it on the table.
I didn't touch it.
“What is it?””
“The original hospital authorization. The document that allowed the identification records to be amended.””
Renee leaned forward.
“That's impossible. The authorization was supposed to be held in the hospital archive.””
Loretta looked at her coldly.
“Not every document made it into the archive.””
I unfolded the paper.
The first section contained the hospital's name and the date of the incident.
The second listed the identification numbers of both infants.
And the third contained a signature authorizing the correction.
My mother's signature.
Below it, a second signature appeared.
Marcus Reed.
I stared at it.
“He signed this?””
Loretta nodded.
“He agreed that the records needed to be corrected.””
Evelyn shook her head violently.
“No. Marcus would never have agreed to something like this without telling me.””
“You didn't know everything about your son.””
I looked at the date.
The authorization had been signed six years ago, three days after Lily's birth.
The same day Marcus disappeared.
But something didn't make sense.
I studied the signature carefully.
It looked too neat. Too deliberate. The final stroke of the R was almost identical to the signature on the statement Daniel had shown me.
I pulled the statement from my bag and placed it beside the authorization.
The signatures matched.
Not approximately.
Exactly.
Every curve. Every hesitation. Every tiny mark.
I looked at Loretta.
“You copied his signature.””
Her face went still.
“You cannot prove that.””
I pointed to the documents.
“Two supposedly separate signatures, written on different dates, with identical marks in the same places.””
Renee leaned over the table.
“She may be right. A forensic document examiner would need to evaluate both originals, but the matching marks warrant investigation.””
My mother snatched the authorization from the table.
“This conversation is over.””
I reached for it.
She pulled it away.
“Give it back!””
“No.””
Then she looked at Lily.
And she said something that made my daughter shrink behind me.
“You see what your mother does? She ruins everything she touches.””
I felt something inside me finally break.
“Get out.””
Loretta stared at me.
“What?””
“Get out of this house.””
“You can't speak to me that way.””
“You don't get to frighten my child, forge documents, and dictate our lives anymore.””
Her face turned crimson.
“You'll regret this tomorrow.””
“Maybe. But I'll regret it more if I let you keep lying.””
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Then Loretta picked up her handbag.
At the doorway, she turned back.
“You want to know why I did it? Fine. Ask Marcus why he was willing to sign away his daughter.””
She stepped into the night.
Before the door closed, she added one final sentence.
“Ask him why he knew which baby was yours before anyone else did.””
The door slammed.
I stood frozen.
Evelyn sank onto the sofa, covering her face.
Renee began photographing the documents we'd managed to preserve.
And Lily tugged at my sleeve.
“Mommy?””
I turned.
“Was Grandma telling the truth?””
I knelt and took her hands.
“I don't know, sweetheart.””
She looked down at her rabbit.
“Did Daddy leave because of me?””
I pulled her into my arms.
“No. Whatever happened, it was never your fault.””
I held her while she cried.
Then my phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number appeared on the screen.
*STOP LOOKING FOR EVELYN REED.*
A second message followed.
*IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHER BABY, ASK YOUR MOTHER WHO SIGNED THE ORIGINAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE.*
I stared at the screen.
May you like
Because for the first time, I realized the secret might not be about who had given birth to Lily.
It might be about who had been allowed to claim her.
