Chapter 13: The Secret Written In My Birth Records
I stared at the photograph on my phone.
The hospital bracelet.
My name.
My birth date.
A message designed to destroy the last piece of trust I had left.
*Ask your mother why she never told you the truth about the day you were born.*
My first instinct was anger.
Not confusion.
Not fear.
Anger.
Because every time I thought I had reached the bottom of the truth, another secret appeared.
Another person who had decided I was too young, too fragile, or too unimportant to know what was happening in my own life.
I looked at my mother.
She didn’t need to see the message.
Her face already told me she understood.
“What did they send you?””
I turned the phone around.
She read it.
Then she sat down.
Slowly.
Like her legs could no longer hold her.
“Maya…”
I felt my heart tighten.
“Tell me.””
She looked at Claire.
Then at the flash drive.
Then back at me.
“I never wanted you to find out this way.””
That sentence scared me more than anything.
“Find out what?””
My mother closed her eyes.
“The day you were born…”
She stopped.
I waited.
For once, I didn’t interrupt.
“I almost lost you.””
The room went quiet.
I frowned.
“What does that mean?””
She looked at me.
“You were born with complications.””
I nodded slowly.
“I know that.””
“No.””
Her voice broke.
“You know the version your father told you.””
I felt a chill.
“What version?””
She looked down.
“That I was sick after your birth. That I became unstable. That I couldn’t handle being a mother.””
My stomach twisted.
“That’s what he said.””
My mother shook her head.
“The truth is I almost died.””
I didn’t know what to say.
She continued.
“I had an emergency surgery. I was unconscious for days.””
Claire looked down.
“I remember.””
My mother looked at her.
“You were there.””
Claire nodded.
“Yes.””
My mother’s eyes filled.
“And while I was fighting for my life, David signed papers.””
“What papers?””
Claire answered.
“Temporary medical guardianship documents.””
I stared.
“Why?””
Claire looked at my mother.
“Because your father claimed Angela was mentally unstable after childbirth.””
The room went cold.
I whispered:
“He used my birth against you.””
My mother nodded.
“He built the story from the beginning.””
I looked at the hospital bracelet photo again.
The pieces started connecting.
The warnings.
The lies.
The inheritance.
The disappearance.
He hadn’t suddenly turned against my mother eight years ago.
Maybe he had been preparing for years.
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
My mother looked at me.
“Because I wanted you to have one parent you could trust.””
My eyes burned.
“You mean him?””
She nodded sadly.
“I thought if I told you the truth, you would lose both of us.””
The pain in her voice stopped me.
Because I realized something.
She wasn’t hiding this to protect herself.
She was hiding it because she thought she was protecting me.
But the result was the same.
I had lived inside a lie.
Claire connected the flash drive to the laptop.
“There’s something else you need to see.””
A folder opened.
Inside were scanned documents.
Medical records.
Court files.
Emails.
Then one file caught my attention.
*Adoption Petition.*
My breath stopped.
“Adoption?””
My mother looked confused.
“No.””
Claire clicked it.
The document loaded.
My name was there.
But something was wrong.
The petitioner wasn’t my mother.
It wasn’t my father.
It was Vanessa.
I stood up.
“She tried to adopt me?””
Claire nodded.
“After Angela disappeared.””
My hands shook.
“She wanted to erase my mother.””
“Yes.””
My mother covered her mouth.
“She wanted to replace me completely.””
Then another document appeared.
A court request.
My eyes moved across the page.
And I saw the date.
Eight years ago.
The same week my mother vanished.
The same week Vanessa took her seat.
The same week my life changed.
At the bottom of the document was a signature.
A signature approving the request.
My father’s.
I looked at him.
Even though he wasn’t there.
Even though he couldn’t defend himself.
I felt betrayed all over again.
Claire whispered:
“There’s one more thing.””
I looked at her.
“What?””
She opened another file.
“This was hidden in your grandmother’s records.””
A scanned letter appeared.
From my grandmother.
But unlike the others, this one had a warning written across the top.
*Do not give this to Maya until she knows who her father really is.*
My heart stopped.
“What?””
My mother looked at the screen.
Confusion crossed her face.
Then fear.
May you like
Because underneath my grandmother’s warning was one sentence:
*David Brooks is not the man Maya thinks he is.*
