Chapter 24 - What Lorraine Had Signed
Lorraine refused to discuss Lillian until Detective Bennett placed the payment record in front of her.
Then her shoulders collapsed.
“She was not mine,” Lorraine said.
“Whose child was she?” Bennett asked.
“Andrew’s.”
Jake felt as if the room had shifted beneath him.
Lorraine explained that Andrew had been involved with another woman during the worst year of their marriage. The relationship ended before the woman discovered she was pregnant.
Months later, the woman contacted Andrew.
She was ill, frightened, and unable to care for the baby. She asked whether Andrew and Lorraine would raise her.
Lorraine agreed.
“I thought taking the child would repair our marriage,” she said. “I thought Andrew would finally understand what I had sacrificed.”
They paid Claudia Voss to arrange what they believed was a lawful private adoption.
The nursery in Claudia’s house was used while the documents were prepared.
Then the child vanished.
Claudia claimed the birth mother changed her mind and took Lillian away.
The $12,000 was never returned.
“Why didn’t Dad report it?” Jake asked.
“He wanted to. I stopped him.”
“Why?”
“Because the adoption was not complete. I was afraid we would be accused of buying a child.”
Years later, when Jake and Leah were born, Claudia recognized Lorraine. She used the earlier payment to threaten her.
Lorraine signed the medical-transfer form because Claudia said Leah needed emergency treatment.
By the time Lorraine woke fully, Leah was gone.
“You let me believe she died,” Jake said.
“I let everyone believe what I needed them to believe.”
That sentence revealed the part of Lorraine that had not changed.
Even when she had been deceived, she answered pain with control and silence.
“Is Lillian alive?” Megan asked.
Lorraine stared at the table.
“I don’t know.”
Detective Bennett showed her the recent photographs sent to Leah.
“Who else knew about the first nursery?”
“Andrew, Claudia, Martin…”
Lorraine hesitated.
“And the woman who gave birth to Lillian.”
“What was her name?”
Before Lorraine could answer, an alarm sounded in the hallway.
A prison officer entered quickly.
May you like
Martin Voss had been found inside the facility using forged attorney credentials.
He had requested a private meeting with Lorraine.
