Chapter 6 - The Woman Named Melissa Grant)
By sunrise, nobody was talking about Vanessa's fake pregnancy anymore.
The story had become something else.
Michael Grant sat inside the estate library with a detective, Adrian, Eleanor, and Grace.
Lily was asleep in Mrs. Alden's apartment above the service wing.
Michael had a bruise near his temple from whatever happened in the greenhouse.
He was not forty three.
His real records showed he was forty six.
For years he had used different names while investigating his sister's disappearance.
"My sister Melissa was nineteen," he explained.
His voice was hoarse.
"She became pregnant in 1999."
Adrian sat opposite him.
"Who was the father?"
"We never knew."
"Why did her ultrasound end up in Vanessa's forged pregnancy file?"
Michael looked toward Vanessa through the distant glass doors.
"Because Voss keeps everything."
"Why?"
"Insurance."
Eleanor frowned.
"Against whom?"
"Everyone."
Michael reached for a folder police had recovered from his car.
Inside were copies of old medical files.
"St. Catherine's had a private maternity wing. Wealthy patients entered through another building. Records were sometimes separated from the main hospital system."
Grace looked at the pages.
"What happened there?"
Michael's expression hardened.
"Babies disappeared."
Nobody spoke.
"Not hundreds. Maybe a dozen. Maybe more. Women were told their children died. Others were pressured into private adoptions. Sometimes records were changed so thoroughly nobody could prove a birth happened."
Eleanor looked sick.
"My sister in law was there."
Michael nodded.
"Caroline Morrell."
Adrian leaned forward.
"You knew about my mother?"
"I learned about her years later."
"Was my brother alive?"
Michael hesitated.
"I don't know."
Adrian's hand tightened.
Michael continued.
"But your father believed he might have been."
Eleanor whispered, "Richard investigated for decades."
Michael nodded.
"He funded Voss."
Adrian looked sharply at him.
"Why?"
"Voss was a junior resident when some of it happened. He claimed he could access records."
"Could he?"
"Yes."
"So my father paid him."
"For information."
Grace asked, "Then why did Voss falsify medical records later?"
Michael gave a bitter smile.
"Because he discovered secrets were more valuable when sold repeatedly."
The truth became clearer.
Samuel Voss had begun as an informant.
Eventually he became a blackmailer.
He kept copies.
He changed records.
He sold hope to families desperate to find missing children.
Sometimes he told the truth.
Sometimes he invented it.
Michael had spent seventeen years chasing every version.
"Daniel Hall was one of Voss's inventions," Michael said.
Adrian frowned.
"The man in the greenhouse?"
"That identity was created for me."
"Why?"
"To get Richard Morrell's attention."
Adrian understood.
"You pretended to be his son."
"I allowed him to believe I might be."
Eleanor stood angrily.
"You manipulated my brother."
Michael looked at her.
"Your brother was not innocent."
The room changed.
Adrian spoke quietly.
"What did my father do?"
Michael did not answer immediately.
"Richard Morrell discovered St. Catherine's secret years before he admitted it."
Eleanor shook her head.
"No."
"He knew powerful people were involved."
"Who?"
"Donors. Doctors. Attorneys. Adoption intermediaries."
Adrian leaned forward.
"And he protected them."
Michael looked at him.
"For a time."
Adrian felt the words like a physical blow.
"My father helped cover this up."
"I believe he did."
"Why would he do that if his own child disappeared there?"
Michael's expression softened.
"Maybe because that is exactly why."
Adrian stared.
Michael explained.
"When Caroline was told her baby died, Richard wanted answers. He started asking questions. Someone showed him what could happen if the truth came out. The Morrell company had financial ties to the hospital. Lawsuits could have destroyed multiple families and institutions."
"So he stayed quiet."
"At first."
Adrian stood and walked away.
The father he remembered had been difficult, controlling, proud.
But Adrian had never imagined this.
Grace watched him.
"Something changed later."
Michael nodded.
"Yes."
"What?"
"Caroline died."
Adrian turned.
Michael continued.
"After her death, Richard began trying to undo what he had done."
Eleanor sat down again.
"He started Project Second Son."
"Maybe."
"What was in the file?"
Michael looked toward the window.
"Proof."
Adrian stepped closer.
"Proof of what?"
"I don't know."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I spent years trying to get that file."
"You worked with Vanessa."
"At first."
"And Voss."
"Yes."
"Then what happened tonight?"
Michael touched the bruise on his head.
"Voss realized Vanessa was going to tell you the truth."
"Why would she?"
Michael looked at Adrian.
"Because she really did fall in love with you."
Adrian's face became hard.
Michael continued.
"Voss couldn't allow that. He told her to steal the file during the reception."
"She says he stole it."
"She's telling the truth."
"How do you know?"
"I saw him leave the archive."
"Why were you in the greenhouse?"
"Vanessa told me to meet her there. She wanted out. She wanted to give you everything."
"Then?"
"Voss came."
Michael's eyes narrowed.
"He had the file."
Adrian's pulse increased.
"What did he do with it?"
"I don't know. He hit me."
"And Vanessa?"
"He told her she had already ruined everything."
Grace asked, "Why use Melissa's ultrasound?"
Michael looked at her.
"Because it was the first file Voss ever stole from St. Catherine's."
Grace frowned.
"Why hers?"
Michael's face changed.
Adrian saw it.
"What aren't you telling us?"
Michael lowered his eyes.
"My sister's child was not reported dead."
"What happened?"
"According to the original file, Melissa delivered a baby boy."
"When?"
"Twenty seven years ago."
"What happened to him?"
Michael looked toward Eleanor.
"He was transferred into a private adoption."
Adrian waited.
Michael continued.
"The adoptive family name was sealed."
Eleanor's fingers tightened around the chair.
Michael took another paper from the folder.
"Except one copy survived."
He slid it across the table.
Eleanor stared at it.
Adrian picked it up.
At the bottom was the name of an attorney responsible for the transfer.
May you like
CHARLES MORRELL.
Adrian's grandfather.
