Chapter 10: Only One Daughter Could Inherit
For several seconds after the recording ended, nobody moved.
The cassette recorder clicked softly in my sister's hand. Somewhere beyond the clinic's boarded windows, a truck rumbled down Northbridge Road, its engine fading into the distance.
I looked at the girl standing beside me.
My face.
My eyes.
My birthday.
A stranger who might have been the missing half of my life.
"What's your name?"" I asked again.
She swallowed.
"Maya Hale. That's what they called me.""
"But is that your real name?""
"I don't know.""
Her voice cracked on the last word.
Denise stepped closer, tears streaming down her face.
"I gave birth to two girls," she whispered.
"Two beautiful girls, and someone convinced me that one of them was dead.""
My sister stared at her.
"Did you ever look for me?""
Denise pressed a hand to her chest.
"Every single day.""
"Then why didn't you find me?""
"Because I was told you had died.""
"Everyone was told something," my sister replied.
"Nobody bothered to find out whether it was true.""
Denise flinched.
I understood the anger in my sister's voice because it was the same anger burning inside me.
We had both grown up surrounded by people who claimed to love us. Yet someone had decided our lives could be rearranged like pieces on a chessboard.
And seventeen years later, neither of us knew which pieces belonged where.
I turned toward Robert.
"You said one of us would inherit your estate. What does that have to do with the baby swap?""
Robert removed his coat and draped it over a dusty chair.
"Everything.""
Thomas Bennett folded his arms.
"Then stop speaking in riddles and explain the will.""
Robert looked at him with open contempt.
"You've spent years trying to prove I was alive. You should be grateful I am finally standing in front of you.""
"I'm grateful for nothing until both girls are safe.""
For the first time, Robert appeared to consider Thomas a genuine threat.
He turned back to us.
"My estate is worth approximately eighty-six million dollars, including properties, investments, and shares in several private companies.""
I almost laughed.
"Eighty-six million?""
"Yes.""
"And someone switched babies for that?""
"Someone changed the records so that only one child could inherit the estate without triggering a legal investigation.""
Thomas stepped toward the table.
"That isn't how inheritance law works. A biological relationship alone doesn't determine the validity of a will.""
"Correct," Robert said.
"Which is why the will contains a condition.""
He pulled a folded document from his inner pocket.
"My original will names a daughter born on October 14, 2009, as the primary beneficiary. But the identity of that daughter was to remain sealed until her seventeenth birthday. If the identity could not be established by then, the estate would transfer to a charitable trust.""
I stared at him.
"So the deadline is today.""
"Yes.""
"And someone wanted to make sure only one of us could be identified.""
Robert nodded.
"Because the person who altered the hospital records believed that if both girls were discovered, the inheritance would become the subject of a lengthy legal dispute.""
Thomas took the document from him.
"Who knew about this condition?""
"Me. My attorney. Dr.
Whitmore. And the person who arranged the transfer.""
"Who was that?""
Robert looked at the floor.
"I don't know.""
"You expect us to believe that?""
"I expect you to understand that I was being investigated for financial misconduct. Someone inside my company was stealing money, and I suspected my own son.""
I looked at my sister.
"Your son?""
"Ethan Hale," Robert replied.
"He managed several of my investments. He knew about the will, and he knew I intended to leave most of my estate to my biological daughter.""
"Did he know about us?""
"He knew there was a child.""
"Which child?""
Robert shook his head.
"I don't know.""
My sister took a step forward.
"You keep saying you don't know. You were the one who arranged the clinic visits. You were the one who signed the legal papers. You were the one who told everyone to keep us apart.""
"I was trying to protect you.""
"From your own son?""
Robert said nothing.
She laughed bitterly.
"That's convenient.""
I looked at Thomas.
"Can we get a DNA test today?""
"Yes, but it must be conducted independently, with proper chain-of-custody documentation. Given the compromised records, we should also obtain genetic testing that compares both sisters and establishes biological relationships.""
I turned toward my sister.
"Would you do it?""
She hesitated.
Then she nodded.
"I want to know who I am.""
"So do I.""
Thomas made two calls. The first was to a forensic laboratory that could arrange emergency sample collection. The second was to a solicitor who could request an injunction preventing the estate from being distributed while the paternity dispute was investigated.
While he worked, I sat beside my sister on a dusty bench.
She watched me as though she were trying to memorize my face.
"Do you have a family?"" I asked.
"I had foster parents after I was twelve. They were kind. They never had children of their own, and they told me I was adopted when I was old enough to understand.""
"What happened to them?""
"They died in a house fire when I was fifteen.""
I turned toward her.
"I'm sorry.""
She shrugged, but her eyes filled with tears.
"After that, a man came forward claiming to represent my biological family. He said he could help me find my birth parents. He brought me here, and I believed him.""
"Who was the man?""
"I never knew his real name. He called himself Mr. Ellis.""
Robert stiffened.
My sister noticed.
"You know him?""
Robert walked toward the window.
"Perhaps.""
"Who is he?""
"I need to think.""
She grabbed his sleeve.
"No. You don't get to walk away every time someone asks you a question.""
Robert looked down at her hand.
For a moment, I thought he might shout.
Instead, he quietly removed her fingers from his sleeve.
"Mr. Ellis was a name used by one of my son's associates.""
Thomas stopped speaking on the phone.
"Which associate?""
Robert hesitated.
Then he said, "Adrian Cross.""
Thomas went completely still.
I looked between them.
"Who is Adrian Cross?""
Thomas slowly lowered his phone.
"A former hospital administrator who was investigated during the Northbridge scandal. He disappeared before charges could be filed.""
Robert nodded.
"He was the man who arranged the original genetic testing.""
"And you let him near your daughter?"" I demanded.
"I didn't know he had taken her.""
My sister stared at him.
"Someone kidnapped me, kept me hidden for seventeen years, and you didn't know?""
Robert's face crumpled.
"I thought you were dead.""
She stepped back as though he had struck her.
"Then you and Denise have something in common.""
Nobody spoke.
A sharp metallic crash echoed from the corridor.
Thomas immediately moved toward the door.
"Stay here.""
He disappeared around the corner.
A second later, we heard him shout.
"Police! Don't move!""
Robert rushed toward the hallway.
I caught his arm.
"You're not going anywhere.""
He looked at me with a mixture of anger and desperation.
"You don't understand. If Adrian is here, we need to leave.""
"Why?""
"Because he won't stop until he has what he came for.""
"What does he want?""
Robert's phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
The color drained from his face.
I snatched the phone before he could answer.
The caller had sent a message.
*You have until midnight to surrender the original genetic records. Otherwise, both daughters lose everything.*
A second message appeared.
*And this time, there will be no second chance.*
I looked up at Robert.
"What original records?""
He stared at the screen.
Then he reached into his coat and pulled out a small brass key.
"The original records aren't in the clinic.""
"Where are they?""
"In a safe deposit box at the bank.""
"Then we get them.""
Robert shook his head.
"You can't.""
"Why not?""
"Because the box is registered under Michael Reeves's name.""
The name silenced us all.
Michael, the man whose death had supposedly occurred months before I was born.
Michael, whose genetic material might have been used to create one of us.
Michael, whose name had appeared in a hospital visitor log seventeen years after his reported death.
Thomas returned from the corridor.
He was alone.
"What happened?"" I asked.
"He escaped through the rear exit.""
Robert closed his eyes.
Thomas looked at the brass key in his hand.
"What's that?""
Robert slowly opened his eyes.
"The key to the only evidence that can tell us which of these girls is my biological daughter.""
My sister reached for my hand.
I held it.
For the first time, neither of us seemed entirely alone.
May you like
Then Robert added something that made my blood run cold.
"And if Michael Reeves is still alive, he may be the only person who knows why the other baby was taken.""
