Chapter 9 - ELEVEN MISSING MONTHS
Liam had spent his life believing Lydia died shortly after giving birth.
Eleven months changed everything.
Where had she lived?
Who had cared for her?
Why had she never reclaimed him?
Grace gave them the name of the charity clinic.
St. Matthew’s Recovery Home.
It had closed fifteen years earlier.
Robert obtained access to the archived records through a court order.
Most were incomplete.
One file remained.
Lydia Moore.
Olivia stood beside Liam as he read it.
Lydia suffered complications after childbirth and required months of treatment.
But there was another entry.
Repeated visitation request denied.
The visitor’s name had been blacked out.
Liam turned the page.
A social worker documented Lydia’s repeated attempts to locate her infant son.
She believed he had been placed temporarily with her friend Nora Reed.
Nora was the woman who had raised Liam.
So Lydia knew he was alive.
Liam’s breathing became uneven.
Robert placed a hand on the table but did not touch him.
“Take your time.”
Liam ignored him.
He kept reading.
Then he reached Lydia’s final recorded statement.
If anything happens to me, my son belongs with Nora until Robert finds him. Robert will come. I know him. He will come.
Liam pushed the file away.
Robert closed his eyes.
Neither spoke.
Olivia cried quietly.
Then Sarah noticed something.
The final page was dated nearly eleven months after Liam’s birth.
The cause of Lydia’s death was listed as cardiac failure.
But the signature beneath it belonged to the same hospital administrator who had accepted Hale Holdings’ payment.
Robert stared at the signature.
“This man certified her first fake death.”
“And her real one,” Sarah said.
Liam looked at them.
“You think my mother was murdered?”
May you like
Robert answered carefully.
“I think we need to stop assuming anything they told us was true.”
