Chapter 3: The Folder With My Daughter’s Name
I called my father back twenty-seven times.
He didn’t answer.
My mother didn’t answer either.
For the first time in years, I felt like my own family had locked me outside a door and thrown away the key.
James found me sitting on the kitchen floor with my phone in my hand.
“Claire.””
I looked up.
“I think something is wrong with my sister.””
He sat beside me.
“I think something is wrong with your whole family.””
I wanted to argue.
I wanted to defend them.
That was what I always did.
But I couldn’t.
Not after last night.
Not after hearing my father’s voice.
“I need to go back there.””
James immediately shook his head.
“Not alone.””
“I’m not asking permission.””
“I know.””
His expression softened.
“That’s why I’m coming with you.””
We drove back to my parents’ house twenty minutes later.
The Christmas decorations were still glowing outside.
The same cheerful lights.
The same wreath on the door.
But everything felt fake now.
James knocked.
Nobody answered.
He knocked again.
“Margaret. Richard. Open the door.””
After a minute, my mother appeared.
She looked tired.
Older.
Like she hadn’t slept.
“Claire.””
I stepped inside.
“Where’s Dad?””
She looked away.
“Your father is resting.””
“I need to talk to him.””
“You don’t understand what you’re doing.””
I stared at her.
“No, Mom. I understand exactly what I’m doing. I’m trying to find out why my sister’s name was written on a folder about my daughter.””
Her face changed.
Just for a second.
But I saw it.
Fear.
James noticed too.
“What was in that folder?””
My mother closed the door.
“Lower your voice.””
“Why?””
“Because Lauren is still here.””
My heart stopped.
“She’s here?””
“She stayed in the guest room.””
I stepped back.
“She stayed?””
After everything?
My mother looked desperate.
“She had nowhere else to go.””
James laughed quietly.
“That’s what you’re worried about?””
My mother looked at him.
“You don’t know the whole story.””
“Then tell us.””
She looked toward the hallway.
Then whispered.
“Lauren lost a baby.””
I froze.
“When?””
“Two years ago.””
I didn’t know that.
Nobody told me.
My mother continued.
“She was eight months pregnant.””
I felt my anger weaken.
For a moment, I remembered Lauren crying at family dinners. The way she disappeared from gatherings. The way everyone treated her carefully.
“But what does that have to do with Emma?””
My mother looked down.
“After her miscarriage, Lauren became convinced that something was taken from her.””
“That doesn’t explain the folder.””
My mother didn’t answer.
A door opened upstairs.
Everyone turned.
Lauren stood at the top of the stairs.
She looked nothing like the confident woman from Christmas dinner.
Her face was pale.
Her eyes were swollen.
She slowly walked down.
“Mom.””
My mother stepped forward.
“Lauren—”
“No.””
Lauren looked at me.
“I know what you found.””
My hands curled into fists.
“You mean what you hid.””
She looked hurt.
“You think I’m a monster.””
“You hit my daughter.””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I barely touched her.””
James stepped forward.
“Don’t say that.””
Lauren looked at him.
“You weren’t there.””
“I was there when my daughter screamed.””
Silence.
Then Lauren whispered, “You don’t know what it feels like.””
I stared at her.
“What?””
“To lose something that was supposed to be yours.””
My blood ran cold.
“Emma was never yours.””
Lauren flinched.
“I know.””
“Do you?””
She looked toward the stairs.
Then slowly walked to the cabinet near the living room.
She opened the bottom drawer.
My father’s folder was inside.
She picked it up.
For a moment, I thought she would run.
Instead, she handed it to me.
“Open it.””
I looked at James.
Then back at Lauren.
“What is this?””
Her voice cracked.
“The reason I shouldn’t have been allowed near your daughter.””
I opened the folder.
The first page was a printed hospital document.
My eyes scanned the words.
Then stopped.
My hands started shaking.
Because the document wasn’t about Emma’s birth.
It was about mine.
At the bottom of the page was a name.
A name I had never seen before.
May you like
And underneath it were three words that changed everything.
“Biological mother: Lauren…”
