Chapter 5: The Woman Who Changed the Birth Certificate
I ran toward the elevator.
Robert grabbed my arm.
"Marcus, wait!""
"That's my father!""
"Or someone pretending to be him.""
I stopped.
Robert was right.
A photograph wasn't proof.
A familiar voice wasn't proof.
But the man had known about Lily.
And he had used a name that only my father had ever called me.
Son.
"Call security," I told Robert.
He picked up the phone.
I took the stairs.
By the time I reached the lobby, the man in the dark coat was gone.
The receptionist stood behind her desk, visibly shaken.
"Mr. Carter?""
"Where did he go?""
She pointed toward the revolving doors.
"He left about a minute ago.""
"Did he say anything?""
The receptionist swallowed.
"He left this for you.""
She handed me a small white envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
My mother.
Standing beside a newborn baby.
The baby was Lily.
I recognized the pink blanket immediately.
On the back, someone had written:
*Ask Eleanor why she chose which baby went home.*
Eleanor.
My mother.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
I drove straight to my mother's house.
It was a two-story brick home on the edge of town, surrounded by rose bushes she had planted when my father was still alive.
She answered the door wearing a pale blue cardigan.
"Marcus! What a surprise.""
I held up the photograph.
Her smile disappeared.
"Where did you get that?""
"That's what I want to know.""
She looked toward the street.
Then she stepped aside.
"Come inside.""
I followed her into the living room.
The familiar smell of cinnamon and furniture polish filled the air.
My father's old photographs still hung above the fireplace.
A picture of him holding me at my high school graduation.
Another of him standing beside my mother on their twentieth anniversary.
I looked at the photographs.
Then at the woman who had spent twelve years telling me he was dead.
"Mom, is Dad alive?""
She dropped the cup she was holding.
It shattered against the hardwood floor.
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Then she whispered, "Who told you?""
I laughed bitterly.
"That's your first question?""
She reached for a towel.
"Marcus, please.""
"Did Dad come to St. Mary's the night Lily was born?""
She stopped wiping the floor.
Her shoulders began shaking.
"Yes.""
"Why?""
"Your father wanted to see his granddaughter.""
"Then why did you tell me he was out of town?""
She closed her eyes.
"Because things were complicated.""
I stepped closer.
"Did you change Lily's birth certificate?""
She looked at me.
"No.""
"Then why is his name on the correction?""
She sat down heavily.
"I didn't know that document still existed.""
My stomach tightened.
"What document?""
She looked toward the fireplace.
Behind the framed wedding photograph of my parents was a small wooden cabinet.
She opened it and removed a thick envelope.
"I was told to keep this hidden.""
"By whom?""
She didn't answer.
She placed the envelope on the table.
Inside were medical documents from the night Lily was born.
I recognized Nia's name.
The hospital room number.
The delivery date.
But one page made my heart stop.
It was a newborn identification record.
Two babies had been registered under nearly identical temporary numbers.
Baby A.
Baby B.
I looked at my mother.
"What is this?""
She pressed her fingers against her lips.
"Your father told me one of the babies had a medical emergency.""
"What babies?""
She began crying.
"Two little girls were born that night.""
I stared at her.
"Nia had twins?""
"No.""
My mother shook her head.
"One was Nia's. The other belonged to another woman.""
I felt dizzy.
"Then why are there two records?""
My mother opened another document.
It was an adoption placement form.
The mother's name had been blacked out.
The adoptive father's signature was visible.
Thomas Carter.
My father's signature.
I looked at the date.
Nine years earlier.
"Mom, what did he do?""
She covered her face.
"He said he was helping someone. He said the other baby would have a better life.""
"Did he take a child?""
She nodded.
"Your father arranged for a newborn to leave the hospital under a different identity.""
I stumbled backward.
"And you knew?""
"I found out afterward.""
"You knew my father had stolen a baby?""
"Marcus, I was scared.""
I slammed my palm against the table.
"Where is the child?""
My mother began sobbing harder.
"I don't know.""
"Who was the mother?""
"I never met her.""
"Why would Dad do this?""
She finally looked at me.
"Because he believed the child was his.""
The room fell silent.
I stared at her.
"His child?""
My mother nodded.
"Your father had an affair. The woman gave birth at the same hospital as Nia.""
I felt sick.
"You're telling me Dad had another daughter?""
"Yes.""
"And he took her?""
"He said he was protecting her.""
I gripped the back of a chair.
The implications were impossible to process.
My father had lied about his death.
My mother had helped conceal a newborn's disappearance.
And Nia had somehow discovered the truth.
But something still didn't make sense.
"Why did Nia write that Lily was never supposed to come home?""
My mother looked terrified.
"Because...""
She stopped.
"Because what?""
She reached into the envelope and pulled out a final sheet of paper.
It was a hospital discharge authorization.
The signature at the bottom belonged to Nia.
But it had been dated three days after Lily's birth.
The baby's name was listed as Lily Carter.
I studied the document.
Then I noticed something written in the margin.
*Infant transferred to private care. Biological mother not informed.*
My hands began trembling.
"Who authorized this?""
My mother pointed at the signature beneath it.
Dr. Ethan Cole.
The same doctor in Nia's photograph.
Before I could ask another question, my phone rang.
Officer Reynolds.
"Marcus, where are you?""
"At my mother's house.""
"Listen carefully. We just identified the person who entered your wife's hospital room under your name.""
"Who?""
"An employee from the hospital records department. He has confessed to altering the visitor log.""
I closed my eyes.
"Why?""
"Because he was paid.""
"By Vanessa?""
There was a pause.
"No.""
My mother suddenly looked up.
Officer Reynolds continued.
"By a woman named Eleanor Carter.""
I turned toward my mother.
Her face had gone completely white.
"Officer," I whispered, "I'm sitting right beside her.""
"Then don't let her leave.""
My mother stood abruptly.
She grabbed her purse.
"Marcus, you have to understand. I did it because your father threatened to take you away from me.""
"Sit down.""
"You don't know what he was capable of.""
"Then tell me!""
She backed toward the hallway.
And as she reached the front door, she said something that destroyed the last piece of certainty I had left.
"Your father didn't steal that baby, Marcus.""
May you like
She opened the door.
"He took his own daughter back.""
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