Chapter 4: The Other Baby
Vanessa stared at Claire as rain tapped against the windows.
“What do you mean she wasn't the only child?””
Claire's lips parted, but no words came.
Marcus stepped forward.
“Claire, stop.””
Vanessa turned on him.
“No. She started this. She's finishing it.””
Claire looked at Marcus with tired eyes.
“You promised you would tell her.””
“I was going to.””
“When?””
Marcus didn't answer.
Claire looked at Vanessa.
“There were twins.””
Vanessa felt the room disappear beneath her.
“Twins?””
Marcus closed his eyes.
“Yes.””
The word was barely audible.
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.””
“I’m sorry.””
“No. Emily doesn't have a twin.””
“She did.””
Vanessa gripped the back of a chair.
“What happened to the other baby?””
Claire looked down.
“She was taken.””
The kitchen seemed to grow colder.
“Taken by who?””
Marcus said, “My father.””
Vanessa stared at him.
“Your father stole a newborn?””
“He believed he was protecting the family.””
“Protecting what family?””
“Our family.””
Vanessa's voice rose.
“You don't get to call that protection!””
Marcus flinched.
Claire stepped between them.
“Your father had discovered that Daniel was planning to expose him.””
“Expose him for what?”” Vanessa demanded.
Claire hesitated.
“Financial crimes. Fraud. Illegal transfers through the company.””
Marcus nodded slowly.
“Daniel found evidence.””
“And then?””
“He threatened to go to the police,” Claire said.
Vanessa looked at Marcus.
“And your father stopped him.””
Marcus's eyes dropped.
“Daniel died in a car accident.””
Vanessa remembered the caller.
You've spent twelve years pretending Daniel is dead.
She swallowed.
“Was it really an accident?””
Marcus didn't answer.
That was enough.
Vanessa's knees weakened.
Claire reached for her arm.
“Sit down.””
Vanessa pulled away.
“I need to know about the babies.””
Claire nodded.
“The twins were born early. Emily was stronger. The other baby had breathing problems.””
“Where was I?””
“Recovering.””
Vanessa stared at her.
“You knew me?””
Claire's expression changed.
“Yes.””
“When?””
“I was one of the nurses that night.””
Vanessa's heart pounded.
Fragments surfaced.
Bright hospital lights.
A nurse telling her to rest.
Marcus holding her hand.
A second cry.
She had always remembered hearing another baby.
She had asked about it.
Marcus had told her she was confused from the medication.
“You told me Emily was the only baby.””
Marcus whispered, “I know.””
“You stood beside my hospital bed and lied to me.””
“I was scared.””
“You keep saying that.””
Marcus looked toward the stairs.
“Emily was in danger.””
Vanessa's voice broke.
“So you took another baby?””
“My father did.””
“And you let him?””
Marcus looked at her.
“I tried to stop him.””
Claire shook her head.
“You didn't try hard enough.””
Marcus glared at her.
“You weren't there.””
“I was.””
The room went silent.
Claire's voice softened.
“I watched your father take the baby.””
Vanessa stared at her.
“Why didn't you stop him?””
“I was twenty-seven. He had security, money, lawyers, influence. He threatened my family.””
“And Marcus?””
Claire looked at him.
“He was there.””
Vanessa slowly turned.
Marcus's face was pale.
“What did you do?””
“I followed him.””
“Where?””
“To another hospital.””
Vanessa's breath caught.
“Why?””
“My father arranged for the baby to be registered under another name.””
“Whose?””
Marcus hesitated.
Claire answered.
“Daniel's sister.””
Vanessa's eyes widened.
“Daniel had a sister?””
“She died years ago,” Claire said.
“But your father used her identity to create a false adoption record.””
Vanessa stared at the floor.
Then she remembered something.
A bracelet.
A tiny silver bracelet she had bought for the twins before they were born.
She had found it years later in Marcus's desk.
She had asked him about it.
He told her it was an old keepsake from his mother.
She had believed him.
Vanessa looked up.
“Where is the other baby now?””
Marcus's phone vibrated.
Everyone froze.
A message appeared.
*Stop asking about the baby.*
Then another.
*Or Emily will disappear too.*
Vanessa grabbed the phone.
“Who sent this?””
Marcus looked at the number.
His expression collapsed.
“I don't know.””
Claire stepped closer.
“Give me the phone.””
Vanessa handed it over.
Claire studied the number.
Her face drained of color.
“What?””
Claire looked at Marcus.
“This is the number from Daniel's old phone.””
Marcus stared at her.
“That phone was destroyed.””
Claire whispered, “Apparently not.””
Another message arrived.
This time, there was an attachment.
A photograph.
Vanessa opened it.
Her breath stopped.
It showed a teenage girl standing outside a school.
Dark hair.
Brown eyes.
A small crescent-shaped birthmark beneath her left ear.
Vanessa's fingers began to shake.
Emily had the exact same mark.
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Under the photograph was one sentence:
*She has been watching your family for years.*
