Chapter 8: The Woman Who Chose Which Baby to Keep
Nobody spoke after Margaret's confession.
Even the rain seemed quieter.
I stared at the phone.
“You switched us?””
My mother began crying.
“Olivia, please. You have to let me explain.””
Vanessa snatched the phone from the table.
“Explain what? That you let Dad lie to us for thirty years?””
“I was trying to protect you.””
“Which one of us?””
Margaret didn't answer.
I took the phone.
“Mom, I need the truth. Now.””
She cried harder.
“I'll come to the house.””
“No. Tell me on the phone.””
A long silence followed.
Then she said:
“I gave birth to Vanessa.””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
Margaret continued.
“Your father and I were married. I was pregnant, and Helen was also pregnant. We were close. She and Thomas had been struggling financially, and we promised to help each other.””
I looked at the two hospital bracelets.
“What happened?””
“There were complications. Helen's baby was delivered first. Mine came eleven minutes later. Both girls were healthy.””
“Then why did you switch us?””
My mother took a shaky breath.
“Because Helen's baby wasn't breathing properly.””
I looked at Vanessa.
Margaret continued.
“The doctors told us there was a serious possibility she wouldn't survive. Helen was hysterical. She begged me to help her.””
I gripped the phone.
“And?””
“And the nurse made a mistake with the bracelets. For a few minutes, nobody knew which baby belonged to which mother.””
Vanessa whispered, “So Grandma was right.””
Margaret's voice cracked.
“Your grandmother wanted the truth to be simple. It wasn't.””
I stood and walked toward the window.
“What happened next?””
“Thomas had died only weeks earlier. Helen was alone. She was terrified. I offered to take the baby who needed medical care while she recovered.””
“And the other baby?””
“I brought her home.””
“Which one?””
Margaret didn't answer.
I turned around.
“Mom!””
“The healthy baby.””
Vanessa sat down.
Margaret continued.
“Your father believed Helen's daughter would eventually inherit Thomas's share of the company. He wanted that child. He was already planning how to control the inheritance.””
I remembered the recording.
My father insisting that the hospital records be changed.
“But if you took Helen's baby, why did she let you?””
“She didn't know. The nurse had corrected the bracelets, and I was given the wrong discharge paperwork. Helen believed she had taken her own daughter home.””
I stared at the phone.
“So the hospital made a mistake?””
“No,” Margaret whispered.
“I realized the mistake before I left.””
The room went cold.
“You knew?””
“Yes.””
“And you didn't correct it?””
“I had already fallen in love with the baby I was holding.””
I felt my throat close.
“Which baby was that?””
Margaret started sobbing.
“Olivia.””
Vanessa covered her mouth.
I looked at the hospital bracelet in my hand.
BABY GIRL A.
CARTER.
My entire life had been built around a lie that began with a woman choosing to keep the baby she had held for eleven minutes.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because Richard found out. He told me if I admitted what happened, he'd take Vanessa away and make sure neither of you ever received the inheritance.””
I shook my head.
“That doesn't explain why you kept lying.””
“I was afraid.””
“For thirty years?””
“Yes.””
I felt tears running down my cheeks.
“You let me call you Mom.””
“You are my daughter.””
“But I'm not your biological daughter.””
“I raised you. I loved you.””
“Then why did you let Dad tell me I was the heir? Why did you let him manipulate my wedding?””
Margaret went silent.
Vanessa took the phone again.
“Mom, what about Daniel?””
A faint gasp came through the speaker.
“He knows?””
“He knows everything.””
Margaret began crying again.
“Please don't involve him.””
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“He's my father, Mom.””
Margaret's voice became almost inaudible.
“I know.””
The front door suddenly opened.
My father walked into the house.
He was holding a leather folder.
Behind him stood Marcus.
My father looked at the scattered papers.
“Give me the hospital records.””
Vanessa stood.
“No.””
“Vanessa, this is a family matter.””
“I'm your daughter. You don't get to decide that anymore.””
He stared at her.
“You have no idea what you're doing.””
Daniel's voice came from the doorway.
“She knows exactly what she's doing.””
He entered with Rachel behind him.
My father looked furious.
“Who invited you?””
“Nobody,” Daniel replied.
“I came because my daughter finally called me.””
Vanessa's expression crumpled.
For the first time, she stepped toward him without hesitation.
“Dad?””
Daniel nodded.
She threw her arms around him.
He held her tightly, closing his eyes.
I watched them.
There was something painful about seeing a father embrace the daughter he had been denied for thirty years.
And something even more painful about realizing that I had no idea who my own biological parents were anymore.
My father dropped the leather folder onto the table.
“Enough. We are finishing this tonight.””
He opened it.
Inside were documents from the family company.
He pointed to a page.
“Thomas's shares were transferred to Margaret after his death. That transfer was legal. The company belongs to this family.””
Daniel shook his head.
“Not according to the original will.””
My father smiled.
“Thomas never signed a valid will.””
Daniel placed another document on the table.
“Then explain this.””
It was a notarized statement dated two days before Thomas died.
Thomas had left his forty-percent share to his daughter.
But there was a condition.
The daughter had to be identified by DNA before she could claim it.
My father stared at the paper.
“You don't have the original.””
Daniel opened his briefcase.
“I do.””
Marcus stepped forward.
“Richard, you need to see something else.””
He pulled out a second folder.
It contained bank statements.
Transfers from the family company to Marcus's account.
I stared at the amounts.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“Why did you take the money?”” I asked.
Marcus looked uncomfortable.
“Richard paid me to find the documents.””
My father snapped.
“You were paid to do a job!””
“And I did it.””
“You were supposed to destroy them.””
Marcus shook his head.
“I never agreed to destroy evidence of murder.””
My father lunged toward him.
Rachel shouted.
Daniel grabbed Richard's shoulder.
The folder fell to the floor.
Several photographs scattered across the wooden boards.
I bent down to pick them up.
One showed Thomas standing beside a woman outside the hospital.
Another showed Grandma Eleanor holding a baby.
The final photograph was different.
It showed my father standing beside Helen.
His hand was resting on her shoulder.
On the back, in Grandma's handwriting, were six words:
Richard knew Helen before Thomas.
I looked at my father.
He had gone completely still.
I held up the photograph.
“Why were you with Helen?””
He stared at me.
“Put that down.””
“Were you having an affair with her?””
Margaret's voice came through the phone.
“No.””
I turned.
She was still on speaker.
My mother whispered:
“Richard was Helen's brother.””
The room went silent.
I looked at the photograph again.
Then at my father.
He closed his eyes.
Daniel slowly lowered his head.
My father finally spoke.
“Yes.””
I felt the ground disappear beneath me.
“Then Thomas and Helen were your brother and sister-in-law?””
He nodded.
“And you were involved in the accident that killed Thomas?””
My father looked at me.
“I didn't intend for him to die.””
Daniel's voice was barely controlled.
“But you knew his car had been sabotaged.””
My father said nothing.
Then he looked directly at me.
“And there's one more thing you should know about Helen.””
I held my breath.
“She didn't die of cancer, Olivia.””
My phone slipped from my hand.
“What?””
My father picked up the photograph.
“Helen was alive when Eleanor wrote that final letter.””
He turned it over.
Beneath Grandma's handwriting was an address.
A current address.
And a date from three months earlier.
My mother whispered through the phone:
“Richard, don't you dare.””
May you like
But he had already said it.
“Your biological mother is alive.””
