Chapter 5: My Wife Had Signed Her Own Disappearance
I couldn't understand what Elena was saying.
“You're telling me I signed that document?””
Elena shook her head behind the glass.
“No. I'm telling you that you signed something else that night. Richard changed the documents afterward.””
Richard gave a short laugh.
“Convenient explanation.””
I looked at the signature again.
It was mine.
Even the small upward stroke at the end of my surname was identical.
I remembered that night.
The night the police called about the boating accident.
The night Richard arrived at the hospital with paperwork.
He had told me the authorities needed authorization to release Elena's personal belongings. He had placed several documents in front of me while I sat in a corridor, barely able to breathe.
I had signed everything.
I hadn't read a single page.
“Which document did I actually sign?”” I asked.
Richard closed his briefcase.
“A property authorization.””
“And you turned it into a surrender of parental rights?””
“You were grieving. You weren't capable of making decisions.””
I stepped toward him.
“You took advantage of me.””
“I protected your family.””
“You imprisoned my wife!””
Richard's expression hardened.
“Your wife was responsible for the situation.””
Elena began crying.
“Daniel, please. You have to understand. I discovered that our first daughter had a genetic marker connected to my mother's family. It was something the hospital had been instructed to monitor.””
“Why?””
“Because my father wasn't the only person involved in the original arrangement.””
I frowned.
“What arrangement?””
Elena looked toward Vanessa.
“Ask her why Richard Hale adopted her.””
Vanessa went still.
Richard's jaw tightened.
“Don't bring up the past.””
Elena pressed her hands against the glass.
“Vanessa wasn't raised as Richard's daughter. She was brought into his home because he needed someone who could replace me.””
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“You think I wanted to spend my life being compared to you?””
“You wanted my husband.””
“I wanted my own life!””
“You took my name. You took my child. You even took my wedding photograph.””
I looked at Vanessa.
“What photograph?””
She reached into her coat and pulled out a small framed picture.
It was our wedding photograph.
Elena and I stood beneath a white flower arch, laughing.
But someone had cut Elena's face out and replaced it with another photograph of the same woman.
Vanessa.
She had kept it.
For fourteen months, she had been carrying around a photograph of herself as my wife.
I felt physically ill.
“Why would you do that?””
Vanessa looked at me.
“Because I wanted to know what it felt like to be chosen.””
“You could have found someone who wasn't married.””
She laughed without humor.
“I tried. Every man I loved eventually compared me to Elena. Even my own father treated me like the defective version of his perfect daughter.””
Richard slapped his briefcase shut.
“That's enough.””
Vanessa turned toward him.
“You don't get to silence me anymore.””
He stepped closer.
“You owe me everything.””
“I owe you nothing.””
“You would still be living in a shelter if I hadn't taken you in.””
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“And you would still be a respected attorney if I hadn't helped you bury your crimes.””
I stared at them.
“What crimes?””
Neither answered.
Then Elena spoke.
“Daniel, remember the summer we spent at my mother's house?””
I nodded slowly.
“She had an old medical file in the attic. I found it after she died. It contained records from a private fertility clinic. Richard had been paying the clinic for years.””
Richard's face changed.
Elena continued.
“He wasn't just arranging adoptions. He was arranging babies.””
I felt cold.
“What does that mean?””
“Women who couldn't have children were paying him to obtain newborns through private arrangements. Some mothers were told their babies had died. Others were told the babies had been placed with relatives.””
I looked at Lily.
My little girl was listening to everything.
I moved closer to her.
“Sweetheart, go upstairs and wait with Mrs. Collins.””
The woman holding her tightened her grip.
“No.””
I turned toward her.
“Let her go.””
“Not until we finish this.””
Lily began struggling.
“Daddy!””
I reached for her, but Vanessa stepped between us.
Then a loud crash came from the far end of the corridor.
Everyone turned.
The steel door had opened several inches.
Elena had managed to force the internal locking mechanism.
She pushed her hand through the gap.
“Daniel!””
I ran toward her.
Richard shouted, “STOP HIM!””
But before anyone could reach me, Elena forced the door open.
She stumbled into the corridor.
She was thinner than I remembered. Her hair was uneven, and her wrists were marked by dark bruises.
But her eyes were the same.
My wife.
Alive.
I caught her as her knees buckled.
“God, Elena.””
She buried her face against my chest.
“I thought I'd never see you again.””
I held her so tightly she gasped.
“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.””
She pulled away and touched my face.
“You have to get Lily out of here.””
I looked toward our daughter.
The woman holding her had backed toward the staircase.
Richard was already reaching for his phone.
I grabbed Elena's hand.
“We're leaving. All of us.””
She shook her head.
“Not yet.””
“Why?””
“Because I know where our other daughter is.””
My heart stopped.
“Where?””
Elena looked toward Richard.
“He never moved her out of the hospital's private network. She's been hidden in a medical facility under a different name.””
“Which facility?””
Elena swallowed.
“St. Catherine's.””
I recognized the name.
It was the private hospital where Richard's wife had supposedly died years earlier.
But Richard's wife had never been sick.
She had left him.
Or so everyone had been told.
Vanessa suddenly began laughing.
“That's what she told you?””
Elena turned.
“What?””
Vanessa wiped a tear from her cheek.
“The little girl at St. Catherine's isn't your daughter.””
Richard looked furious.
“Vanessa, shut up.””
But she continued.
“You've been chasing the wrong child for six months.””
Elena stared at her.
“Where is my daughter?””
Vanessa glanced at Lily.
Then she leaned toward me.
“Your real daughter is closer than you think.””
My eyes moved to Lily.
Vanessa nodded.
“Look at her medical records. Look at the blood type. Look at the scar behind her ear.””
I looked at my daughter.
A small pale mark was visible just beneath her hairline.
I had always thought it was a birthmark.
Elena covered her mouth.
“No.””
Vanessa smiled.
“Now you understand.””
I turned toward Elena.
“What is she talking about?””
My wife looked at Lily with an expression I couldn't read.
May you like
Then she whispered:
“The baby they gave us at the hospital wasn't the only baby they switched.””
