Chapter 5 - The Missing Hours
Maya remembered almost nothing from the night Oliver was born.
She remembered the pain.
The rush of doctors.
Ryan holding her hand.
Evelyn standing near the doorway in a pale gray coat.
Then darkness.
When Maya woke, fourteen hours had passed.
Ryan sat beside her bed with tears in his eyes.
He told her there had been complications.
He told her Oliver was premature but alive.
He told her she was safe.
No one explained why her medical chart contained six missing hours.
At the studio, Jonah spread photocopied records across the table.
“The hospital’s original digital logs were altered,” he said. “But Anna kept handwritten notes.”
“Why?”
“She suspected someone was changing infant identification bracelets.”
Maya sat down.
“Are you saying Oliver isn’t my son?”
Lena answered carefully.
“We don’t know what happened.”
“I gave birth to a child.”
“Yes.”
“Was he alive?”
Lena looked at Jonah.
Maya stood.
“Tell me.”
Jonah spoke.
“According to Anna’s message, your biological child experienced respiratory failure shortly after delivery.”
Maya’s knees weakened.
Lena caught her arm.
“No,” Maya whispered.
“There is no verified death certificate,” Jonah continued. “No burial record. No body transfer record. Nothing that proves the child died.”
“But the photograph says the first child didn’t survive.”
“The photograph may be a warning, not a fact.”
Maya pressed both hands against the table.
“What about Oliver?”
“Another infant was admitted that night without proper registration.”
“Whose?”
“We don’t know.”
Maya closed her eyes.
Oliver’s laugh filled her memory.
His warm weight sleeping against her shoulder.
The way he called for her during storms.
Blood did not matter.
He was her son.
But someone had lied about how he came into her arms.
“Does Ryan know?”
Jonah watched her.
“I hoped you could tell me.”
“No. He would have said something.”
“Would he?”
Maya looked up sharply.
Lena intervened.
“There is evidence Ryan’s signatures were copied onto documents. We shouldn’t assume he participated.”
“Evelyn did this,” Maya said.
Jonah leaned against the table.
“Evelyn may be part of it, but hospital records were changed by at least three employees. Financial transfers were made through two shell companies. Someone with more influence than your mother-in-law helped arrange this.”
Maya thought of the recording.
“The voice said Oliver wasn’t the child she was promised.”
Jonah straightened.
“What voice?”
Maya told him about the hidden memory card and the deleted file.
Jonah’s expression darkened.
“Can you remember the exact words?”
“Evelyn changed the medication again. The next attack had to happen while I was alone. After I lost custody, she would take Oliver.”
“Anything else?”
“One man asked why she wanted him.”
“And?”
“The other said Oliver wasn’t the child she was promised.”
Jonah walked to the window.
“This isn’t only about custody.”
“What is it about?”
“Identity.”
Lena looked at him.
“You think Evelyn has been testing him.”
“Maybe.”
“Testing him for what?”
Jonah turned.
“Compatibility.”
Maya felt cold.
Before she could ask what he meant, her phone rang.
Ryan.
She hesitated before answering.
“Where are you?”
His voice was tense.
“Driving.”
“Come home.”
“What happened?”
“Oliver is missing.”
The room tilted.
“What?”
“I went to check his bedroom. The window was open.”
“Where is Evelyn?”
“She says she was downstairs.”
Maya ran toward the door.
May you like
Ryan’s voice broke through the phone.
“Maya, there’s blood on his bed.”
