Chapter 7 - Two Girls Born on the Same Day
Celeste Ward had a daughter.
There was no record of Clara after the age of three months.
No school registration.
No medical records.
No death certificate.
Nothing.
Maya sent photographs of the hospital bracelet.
Emma stared at the date.
Lily had been born at St. Catherine’s Medical Center during a violent winter storm. The hospital lost power for eleven minutes and switched to backup generators.
Vanessa had been present.
Daniel had not.
At least, that was what Emma remembered.
Daniel claimed he was trapped across town.
Now Adrian searched archived staff records.
Celeste had worked at St. Catherine’s accounting department that year.
“This could be a coincidence,” he said.
Emma looked at him.
“You don’t believe that.”
“No.”
The archive continued decrypting while they searched.
At last, the portal opened.
Hundreds of folders appeared.
Financial records.
Audio recordings.
Photographs.
Legal documents.
One folder was labeled BIRTH.
Emma clicked it.
A scanned hospital report appeared.
Two infant identification numbers.
Two mothers.
Emma Hale.
Celeste Ward.
Both delivered baby girls within seventeen minutes of each other.
The second page contained a handwritten note from Eleanor.
Vanessa paid someone in maternity administration. Purpose unknown. Daniel present in restricted area despite claiming absence.
Emma’s vision blurred.
“What is this saying?”
Adrian moved closer to the screen.
“It doesn’t say enough.”
A third file contained security footage from the hospital corridor.
The timestamp showed the night Lily was born.
Vanessa entered the neonatal observation area with a hospital administrator.
Several minutes later, Daniel appeared from a stairwell.
He was wearing scrubs.
Emma sank into the chair.
“He was there.”
“Yes.”
“He lied from the beginning.”
The footage had no sound.
Daniel and Vanessa argued with the administrator. Daniel pointed toward two bassinets. Vanessa handed the administrator an envelope.
Then the camera went dark.
Emma clicked the next file.
Corrupted.
The next.
Corrupted.
The final document was a laboratory invoice for private genetic testing.
The names were hidden, but the results showed a parent-child probability of 99.99 percent.
The listed father was Daniel Mercer.
The mother’s code did not match Emma.
Emma stopped breathing.
“Lily wasn’t mine?”
Adrian answered carefully.
“We don’t know which child was tested.”
“Daniel had another daughter.”
“Possibly.”
“With Celeste?”
“Possibly.”
Emma stood so quickly that the chair rolled backward.
The room spun.
Every memory became unstable.
Lily’s first steps.
Her first fever.
The way she twisted a curl around her finger while thinking.
None of it changed how Emma loved her.
But the possibility that her child had been exchanged, hidden, or used in some plan was unbearable.
“Where is Clara?” Emma asked.
“We need more records.”
“Where is my biological daughter?”
“Emma.”
“Do not tell me to stay calm.”
“I was going to tell you not to assume Lily wasn’t yours. The test could concern Clara. Daniel may have fathered Celeste’s child, and Vanessa may have helped conceal it.”
“Why would my mother do that?”
Adrian looked at the transaction files.
“Because Daniel may have been connected to Vanessa long before he married you.”
A sound came from the hallway.
The funeral home’s side door closed.
Adrian immediately shut the laptop.
Someone had been listening.
They searched the corridor.
Empty.
At the end of the hall, a window stood open.
Below it, on the wet grass, lay a white hotel key card.
Soufrière Private Villas.
Someone from Saint Lucia had followed Celeste’s evidence back to Boston.
Emma called Maya.
No answer.
She called again.
Voicemail.
A message appeared from Maya’s number.
Do not go to Bellweather.
Emma typed a reply.
Why?
Three dots appeared, vanished, and appeared again.
May you like
Then the response came.
Because Celeste is already there.
