Chapter 6: The Daughter Nobody Mentioned
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Emily stared at Richard.
"My sister?""
Richard nodded.
Michael stepped forward.
"Don't you dare.""
His father looked at him calmly.
"You should listen before you start making accusations.""
"You just told my daughter she has a sister. I want to know what that means.""
Richard removed his gloves.
"Sarah gave birth to twins.""
Emily's face went completely white.
Michael felt as if someone had punched him.
"No.""
"Yes.""
"No, my wife had one baby.""
"That's what you were told.""
Michael looked at Robert.
The attorney was staring at Richard with an expression of pure disbelief.
"Is this true?"" Michael demanded.
Robert slowly opened the folder containing Sarah's medical records.
"There was a reference to a second infant in one of the original documents.""
Michael turned sharply.
"You knew?""
"I suspected something. I never had confirmation.""
Emily's voice trembled.
"Mom had another baby?""
Richard nodded.
"Two girls.""
Michael backed away.
He remembered Sarah's pregnancy.
He remembered being in the delivery room.
He remembered hearing a baby cry.
He remembered a nurse placing a tiny newborn in his arms.
One baby.
He had never seen another.
"Where is she?"" Emily asked.
Richard looked at her.
"That is complicated.""
"Where is my sister?""
"She was adopted.""
Emily's knees weakened.
Michael caught her.
"Who adopted her?""
Richard looked toward the street.
"People who could give her a better life.""
Michael's voice rose.
"You stole my child?""
Richard's expression hardened.
"Watch your language.""
"You stole my daughter?""
"I made a decision that protected this family.""
"What family?""
Richard looked at Emily.
"The family you were supposed to have.""
Emily pulled away from Michael.
"You're talking about me like I'm a mistake.""
Richard sighed.
"You're too young to understand.""
"I'm seventeen!""
"Exactly.""
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
"You're the reason Mom was scared?""
Richard didn't answer.
Michael grabbed his father's coat.
"Tell us where she is.""
Richard pushed his hand away.
"Let go of me.""
"Where is my daughter?""
Richard straightened his collar.
"Her name is Charlotte.""
The name hung in the air.
Emily repeated it softly.
"Charlotte.""
Richard nodded.
"She was adopted by a family in Connecticut.""
Michael stared.
"How do you know?""
"Because I arranged it.""
Michael's vision blurred with anger.
"You arranged the adoption of my child without my permission?""
"Sarah was seriously ill. She was overwhelmed. She couldn't manage two newborns.""
"That was not your decision!""
Richard raised his voice.
"I was trying to prevent a disaster.""
Robert stepped between them.
"Richard, I think you should be very careful about what you say next.""
Richard looked at him.
"You're still pretending to be a lawyer, Robert?""
"I am a lawyer.""
"Then perhaps you should remember the statute of limitations.""
Robert didn't flinch.
"Adoption fraud, falsification of medical records, and financial coercion are not matters you can simply dismiss.""
Richard smiled faintly.
"Can you prove any of that?""
Robert opened his briefcase.
"Perhaps not yet.""
Richard glanced at Michael.
"See? This is why I came. You need to stop digging.""
Michael stared at him.
"Why did you fake your death?""
Richard's expression changed.
For the first time, he seemed genuinely uncomfortable.
"Because I had to disappear.""
"From whom?""
"People who were asking questions.""
"About what?""
Richard looked toward the television.
Sarah's frozen face was still visible on the screen.
"About the night your wife died.""
Michael felt his blood turn cold.
"What happened that night?""
Richard took a breath.
"Sarah had an accident.""
"That's what the hospital told me.""
"She was in a fragile condition.""
"She was recovering.""
Richard shook his head.
"She wasn't.""
Michael remembered the final phone call.
The nurse had called him at 11:20 p.m.
He had been driving home from a business meeting.
By the time he reached the hospital, Sarah was gone.
He remembered the doctor saying her condition had deteriorated suddenly.
He remembered being told there had been complications.
And he remembered Vanessa standing beside the hospital bed, crying.
Michael looked at his father.
"What did you do?""
Richard didn't answer.
Emily suddenly spoke.
"Grandpa, did you hurt Mom?""
Richard turned toward her.
"No.""
"Then why did she say you were involved?""
Richard's face tightened.
"Your mother was frightened. She misunderstood things.""
Emily shook her head.
"She recorded everything.""
Richard looked at Robert.
"Have you recovered the complete video?""
"Not yet.""
Richard exhaled.
"Then you don't know anything.""
Michael stepped closer.
"Tell me where Charlotte is.""
Richard reached into his coat and removed a folded piece of paper.
He placed it on the table.
"This is the name of the family.""
Michael unfolded it.
The address was in Greenwich, Connecticut.
The adoptive parents were listed as Thomas and Rebecca Whitmore.
Emily looked at the paper.
"Can we go see her?""
Michael looked at Robert.
"Can we?""
Robert nodded cautiously.
"If the adoption was completed legally, we cannot simply take the child. But we can request the original records and establish what happened.""
Michael looked at his father.
"How old is Charlotte?""
Richard hesitated.
"Seventeen.""
Emily's eyes widened.
"She's my age?""
"Yes.""
Emily looked at the address again.
Then she noticed something.
There was a handwritten note at the bottom.
*Do not contact the Whitmores without speaking to Vanessa first.*
Michael stared at it.
"Why?""
Richard remained silent.
Then his phone rang.
He checked the screen.
His expression changed.
"Excuse me.""
He stepped toward the porch.
Michael followed.
"You're not leaving.""
Richard answered the call anyway.
"Yes?""
A woman's voice came through the speaker.
Michael recognized it immediately.
Vanessa.
"Did you tell them?""
Richard closed his eyes.
"I told them enough.""
"You promised me you wouldn't.""
"I had no choice.""
"Richard, you need to get out of there. Now.""
Michael grabbed the phone.
"Vanessa!""
Silence.
Then her voice returned.
"Michael?""
"Where is Charlotte?""
Vanessa began breathing rapidly.
"Listen to me. Your father is lying.""
Richard snatched the phone back.
"That's enough.""
Vanessa shouted through the speaker.
"Tell him what you did to Sarah!""
Richard ended the call.
Michael stared at him.
"What did you do?""
Richard placed the phone in his pocket.
"Nothing that matters now.""
"Everything matters now.""
Richard looked toward Emily.
"Ask your wife why she was in the maternity ward that night.""
Michael frowned.
"She's dead.""
Richard's expression shifted.
"Your wife?""
"Sarah.""
Richard shook his head.
"No. The other woman.""
Michael looked confused.
Then he remembered Vanessa's earlier admission.
She had known Sarah long before their marriage.
She had been at the hospital.
She had been involved with the falsified records.
But Richard's words suggested something else.
Michael looked at Robert.
"Who else was there?""
Robert opened the folder.
He began turning through the pages.
Then he stopped.
A photocopy slipped from the folder and landed on the floor.
It was a hospital staff registration form.
The name at the top was familiar.
*Dr. Daniel Brooks.*
But beneath it was another name.
*Emergency attending physician: Dr. Vanessa Reed.*
Michael stared.
"Vanessa was a doctor?""
Robert picked up the page.
"Apparently, she had medical training.""
Richard looked away.
Emily whispered:
"She told us she worked in property management.""
Michael turned toward his father.
"Why was she listed as an attending physician?""
Richard didn't answer.
Robert examined the document more closely.
"There's something else.""
At the bottom was a handwritten note.
*Infant B — transferred to private care at 10:06 p.m.*
Michael's hands began shaking.
"Private care?""
Robert nodded.
"That means the second baby was moved out of the hospital before the standard discharge process.""
"By whom?""
Robert pointed to the signature.
Michael leaned closer.
It was Vanessa's.
He felt the room spinning.
Richard suddenly stepped toward the door.
Michael blocked him.
"You're not going anywhere.""
Richard's voice became cold.
"Move.""
"Not until you tell me why Vanessa signed the transfer.""
Richard stared at him for several seconds.
Then he said something that shattered the last piece of Michael's understanding.
"Because Charlotte wasn't supposed to go to the Whitmores.""
Michael froze.
"What?""
Richard looked at Emily.
"She was supposed to go to Vanessa.""
Nobody spoke.
Emily's face twisted in confusion.
"Why would Vanessa want my sister?""
Richard looked at the girl.
"Because Vanessa believed she deserved a child of her own.""
Michael stared at his father.
"She couldn't have children?""
Richard nodded.
"She had been told she would never be able to carry a pregnancy.""
Emily slowly turned toward the house.
"Then why did she marry Dad?""
Richard gave a bitter smile.
"Because she wanted the family Sarah had.""
Michael felt sick.
"Did Vanessa take Charlotte?""
Richard looked down.
"Not exactly.""
"Then where is my daughter?""
Richard hesitated.
And that hesitation was worse than any answer.
Finally, he said:
"Charlotte was adopted by the Whitmores, but Vanessa never stopped seeing her.""
Emily looked at him.
"She knows my sister?""
Richard nodded.
"She has been visiting her every year.""
Michael's voice dropped.
"Since when?""
"Since she was born.""
Emily looked as though she might collapse.
For six years, Vanessa had lived in their house.
She had made Emily feel unwanted.
She had thrown away Sarah's letters.
She had stolen her phone.
She had told her she didn't belong.
And all that time, she had apparently maintained a relationship with Emily's twin sister.
Michael turned toward Robert.
"Find the Whitmores. We're going to Connecticut.""
Robert nodded.
Richard moved toward the door.
Michael didn't stop him.
But before leaving, Richard turned around.
"Michael, there's one thing you still don't understand.""
Michael's jaw tightened.
"What?""
"Vanessa didn't arrange the adoption because she wanted Charlotte.""
"Then why?""
Richard looked at Emily.
"Because Sarah asked her to.""
Emily shook her head.
"No. Mom would never give my sister away.""
Richard's expression softened.
"She didn't want to.""
He paused.
"But she knew one of her daughters was in danger.""
Michael stepped forward.
"What danger?""
Richard opened the door.
"Ask Vanessa what happened to the first baby she tried to save.""
Then he walked out.
Michael stood motionless.
Emily looked at her father.
"Dad?""
He turned.
"Yes, sweetheart?""
"Grandpa said first baby.""
Michael nodded slowly.
Emily's voice broke.
"Does that mean there was another child before us?""
Before Michael could answer, Robert's phone rang.
He glanced at the screen.
Then his face went completely pale.
"Michael.""
"What?""
Robert turned the phone around.
A message had arrived from Daniel Brooks.
It contained a single photograph of a hospital record and a short warning.
*I found the original delivery report. There were three infants registered that night, not two.*
Beneath it was another message.
*And one of them was recorded as deceased.*
Michael stared at the screen.
May you like
Then Emily whispered the question neither of them wanted to ask.
"Dad... if there were three babies, whose grave did we visit all these years?""
