Chapter 8: The Baby Who Disappeared
For several seconds, Daniel couldn't speak.
He looked at Elena, waiting for her to explain.
“What do you mean, Maya wasn't the only baby born that night?””
Elena pressed a hand against her mouth.
Michael sat back down, looking almost pleased with himself.
“Now we're getting somewhere.””
Daniel rounded on him.
“You knew about this?””
Michael shrugged.
“I know what the records say.””
“Then tell me what they say.””
“Not my story to tell.””
Daniel seized the front of Michael's coat.
“Then stop using it to threaten my daughter!””
Marcus pulled Daniel's hand away.
“Let him go. We need answers, not another incident.””
Daniel released his brother.
Michael straightened his collar.
“You always were impulsive.””
Elena finally spoke.
“I gave birth to twins.””
The words seemed to drain the air from the room.
Maya stared at her mother.
“Twins?””
Elena nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks.
“You were born first. Your brother came seven minutes later.””
Daniel stumbled backward until he struck the edge of the coffee table.
“Our son?””
Elena looked at him.
“Yes.””
Daniel's face crumpled.
He had never known there was another child.
Not once had he suspected that Maya had a brother somewhere in the world.
“What happened to him?””
Elena looked toward Michael.
“He disappeared from the hospital.””
Daniel shook his head.
“No. No, I was there. I saw you after the delivery. The doctors told me—”
“The doctors told you that Maya was healthy and that the second baby had died during delivery,” Elena said.
“But that wasn't true.””
Daniel stared at her.
“Why would they tell me that?””
“Because someone had already changed the records.””
Michael leaned forward.
“That's a dramatic version of events.””
Elena turned on him.
“You were there.””
Michael's expression hardened.
“I was visiting my brother.””
“You took the baby from the hospital.””
Maya gasped.
Daniel looked at his brother as if he were seeing him for the first time.
“Did you?””
Michael stood.
“That's ridiculous.””
“Then explain why your name appears on the visitor log,” Elena said.
“Explain why the security footage disappeared. Explain why the nurse who delivered the twins received money from an account controlled by Richard Hawthorne.””
Michael's face reddened.
“You have no proof.””
Elena reached for the envelope.
“I have the original birth records.””
She pulled out a folded document and placed it on the table.
The certificate listed two children.
Maya Reed.
And a second baby whose name had been crossed out and replaced with a handwritten note.
*Infant B — transferred to another facility.*
Daniel picked up the document.
His fingers shook.
“What facility?””
Elena shook her head.
“That was the problem. The transfer was never recorded. The hospital claimed the baby had been moved to a specialist unit. But no such unit existed.””
Daniel looked at Michael.
“You stole my son.””
Michael's expression turned cold.
“You have no idea what happened.””
“Then tell me!””
Michael glanced at Elena.
“She wanted the truth? Fine. The baby was sick.
There were complications. The doctors believed he wouldn't survive.””
Elena shook her head violently.
“That's a lie.””
“You weren't conscious when they moved him.””
“I woke up and he was gone!””
“And I was the one who found him.””
Daniel stared at his brother.
“You found him?””
Michael's jaw tightened.
“I was told to arrange a transfer. I believed the child was dying. I thought I was helping.””
Elena's voice cracked.
“You signed the paperwork.””
“I was twenty-seven years old! Richard told me the baby needed treatment and that the hospital couldn't handle it.””
“You took him away without telling his parents.””
Michael slammed his palm against the table.
“Because your husband was already being investigated for financial misconduct, and you were involved in a trust dispute! Richard said the baby would be safer somewhere else.””
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“What investigation?””
Michael realized his mistake.
He looked toward Marcus.
Then back at Daniel.
“Forget it.””
“No. You just said I was being investigated. By whom?””
Michael shook his head.
“You wouldn't understand.””
“Try me.””
Michael's gaze moved toward Maya.
“Ask your wife why she gave birth in a private clinic instead of the hospital she had chosen. Ask why she insisted that no one from your company attend the birth. Ask why your signature appears on the transfer documents.””
Daniel went pale.
“My signature?””
Elena looked horrified.
“They forged his signature.””
Michael laughed without humor.
“Perhaps. Or perhaps Daniel was so distracted by his company that he signed whatever was put in front of him.””
Daniel remembered the night of the birth.
He had been called away from the hospital for a meeting after a major supplier threatened to cancel a contract. He had returned exhausted, carrying flowers and a stuffed rabbit for Maya.
Elena had been asleep.
A nurse told him the second baby hadn't survived.
He remembered crying in the hallway.
He remembered asking to see the child.
The doctor had said the body had already been transferred for examination.
He had signed several documents without reading them.
For six years, he had believed his son was dead.
Now he looked at the man who had been his brother, his closest friend, and his daughter's uncle.
“Where is my son?””
Michael didn't answer.
Daniel grabbed his coat again.
“Where is he?””
Marcus intervened.
“Daniel, stop!””
Michael shoved Daniel's hands away.
“You want the truth? Your son is alive.””
Elena collapsed onto the sofa.
Maya covered her mouth.
Daniel stared at his brother.
“Where?””
Michael looked at Elena.
“She was supposed to keep him hidden.””
Elena shook her head, sobbing.
“I never knew where he was.””
“That's convenient.””
“Michael, please. Tell us.””
He walked to the window.
For a long moment, he stared at the street.
Then he said, “Richard arranged for him to be raised by another family. They believed he was abandoned.””
Daniel's knees nearly buckled.
“Which family?””
“I don't know their names.””
“Liar!””
Michael turned.
“I was told the boy was safe. I was told he'd have a good life. I never saw him again.””
Elena rose unsteadily.
“You took my child from my arms.””
“I never touched him!””
“You signed the transfer.””
“Because Richard told me it was necessary!””
Daniel's voice dropped.
“Why would Richard want my son?””
Michael looked at him.
“Because of the trust.””
He explained that Elena's father had originally intended to divide the inheritance between both grandchildren. But a later amendment had named Maya as the sole beneficiary unless her brother survived to adulthood.
If the boy had died, Michael would become guardian of Maya's inheritance under the existing arrangement.
If the boy lived, the trust would be divided between the twins.
Richard had been paid to make sure the second child disappeared from the records.
Daniel felt sick.
“Then the money wasn't just stolen from Maya.””
“No,” Elena whispered.
“It was stolen from both of them.””
Maya looked at her mother.
“Does my brother know he has a sister?””
Elena began to cry harder.
“I don't know.””
“Does he know who his parents are?””
“I don't know, sweetheart.””
“Does he know he was taken?””
Elena couldn't answer.
Maya looked down at the photograph of herself as a baby.
She had spent years wishing she had someone who understood what it was like to grow up without a mother.
Now she had a brother who had grown up without either parent.
Somewhere, a boy might be asking the same questions she had asked.
“Find him,” she whispered.
Daniel took her hand.
“I will.””
Michael cleared his throat.
“You can't simply find him. Richard used a private adoption arrangement. The records were sealed.””
Marcus turned toward him.
“You said you never saw the boy again. How do you know the records were sealed?””
Michael fell silent.
Daniel's expression hardened.
“Because you helped seal them.””
Michael looked at the floor.
For the first time, he appeared frightened.
Then his phone rang.
He glanced at the screen and immediately rejected the call.
A second later, a message appeared.
Maya saw his expression change.
“Who is it?”” she asked.
Michael put the phone away.
“No one.””
Daniel held out his hand.
“Give me the phone.””
“No.””
“Michael.””
His brother backed toward the door.
“I'm leaving.””
Marcus blocked the exit.
“Not until we finish this conversation.””
Michael looked around the room, calculating his options.
Then he laughed.
“You think finding the boy will fix everything? It won't. Richard has spent years making sure no one can connect him to the adoption.””
“Where is Richard?”” Daniel demanded.
Michael's gaze shifted toward the staircase.
“I don't know.””
But Elena had noticed something.
She was staring at the message on Michael's phone, which had briefly lit up before he put it away.
She had seen the sender's name.
And when Michael tried to push past Marcus, she caught his sleeve.
“Michael,” she whispered.
“Why is Richard texting you from a hospital?””
Michael froze.
Daniel looked at him.
“What hospital?””
Michael's face turned ashen.
He pulled his phone out, but it was too late.
Daniel had already seen the notification.
*ST. AGNES MEDICAL CENTER — PEDIATRIC WARD.*
Beneath it was a message from Richard.
The boy has been asking questions. If he learns the truth, everything collapses.
Daniel stared at the screen.
His son wasn't just alive.
May you like
He was somewhere nearby, in a hospital, asking questions about his past.
And someone had been watching him.
