Chapter 6: The DNA Test That Changed Everything
We made it upstairs because Vanessa suddenly released Lily.
I didn't understand why.
She simply stepped aside and watched as I gathered my daughter into my arms.
Richard remained at the bottom of the staircase, speaking rapidly into his phone.
Elena leaned against the wall, barely able to stand.
I wrapped my jacket around her shoulders.
“Can you walk?””
She nodded.
“Where's Lily?””
“Right here.””
Elena reached for our daughter.
Lily hesitated.
For fourteen months, she had been told her mother was dead. Then she had seen two women claiming to be Mommy.
Now the real Elena stood in front of her.
“Sweetheart,” Elena whispered.
“It's Mommy.””
Lily stared at her.
Then she slowly touched Elena's cheek.
“You're cold.””
Elena broke down.
“I know, baby.””
Lily wrapped her little arms around her mother.
I turned away because I couldn't bear to watch them cry.
Behind us, Vanessa spoke.
“You have no idea what you're doing.””
I turned.
“You're going to explain everything.””
She looked toward Richard.
“He'll kill me if I do.””
Richard put his phone away.
“Don't be dramatic.””
Vanessa laughed.
“That's what you said about Margaret.””
I stepped closer.
“What happened to the nurse?””
Richard ignored me.
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“Margaret discovered that the babies had been switched. She copied the original hospital records and gave them to Elena. Richard found out.””
“And?””
“She was killed two days later.””
Elena looked up.
“You told me she had escaped.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“I lied.””
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then I heard sirens.
Far away.
But getting closer.
I pulled out my phone.
I'd managed to send a short emergency message to Mrs. Collins before descending into the underground facility. I had also shared my location with the police.
Richard noticed the sound.
His face darkened.
“You called the police?””
I stared at him.
“Did you expect me to leave my wife and daughter in your basement?””
He looked at Vanessa.
“This is your fault.””
She stepped backward.
“No. This is yours.””
Richard suddenly rushed toward the staircase.
But before he could reach it, a heavy security door slammed shut.
A red indicator flashed above it.
He was trapped inside.
I looked at Vanessa.
She held a small control device.
“What did you do?””
“Locked the exits.””
“Why?””
She looked at Elena.
“Because we aren't finished.””
Elena tightened her arms around Lily.
“Vanessa, please. Whatever you want, take it from me. Leave the children alone.””
Vanessa stared at her.
“That's always been your problem. You think sacrificing yourself fixes everything.””
Then she looked at me.
“Daniel, do you remember when Lily had that emergency surgery at four months old?””
I nodded.
She had been taken to St. Mary's after developing a serious infection. I remembered spending two nights in the hospital, sleeping in a chair beside her crib.
“What about it?””
Vanessa walked toward the table.
“Her medical records were altered that week.””
I frowned.
“Why?””
“Because the hospital needed to replace one of the babies without raising suspicion.””
My hands began shaking.
“You're saying the child I brought home from the hospital wasn't the child I held during surgery?””
Vanessa nodded.
“Exactly.””
Elena looked horrified.
“They changed her again?””
Vanessa lowered her eyes.
“The first switch was done at birth. The second was done during the emergency admission. They used the same hospital system to make the records look continuous.””
I stared at my daughter.
Lily was holding Elena's hand.
She looked up at me.
“Daddy, am I really your little girl?””
I knelt in front of her.
“Of course you are.””
“But that lady said I'm not.””
I brushed her hair away from her forehead.
“Whatever happened before you came home, sweetheart, you are my daughter. Nobody can change that.””
Lily began crying.
“Even if I'm not?””
I pulled her into my arms.
“Especially then.””
Elena knelt beside us.
“We love you, Lily. Nothing will ever change that.””
Vanessa watched us silently.
For the first time, she looked uncertain.
Then she placed a small envelope on the table.
“There's one way to know.””
I looked at it.
“What's that?””
“A DNA test.””
I stared at her.
“You have one?””
“I've had one for six months.””
Elena stood.
“Where did you get it?””
Vanessa looked at her.
“From the little girl who was brought to my apartment last winter.””
My stomach tightened.
“What little girl?””
Vanessa opened the envelope.
Inside was a laboratory report.
The first page contained two names.
Elena Mercer.
Lily Mercer.
The result was printed in bold.
*BIOLOGICAL MOTHER-CHILD RELATIONSHIP: EXCLUDED.*
Elena covered her mouth.
I felt the floor disappear beneath me.
But Vanessa turned the page.
There was another test.
This one compared Lily's DNA with a woman identified only as Patient 014.
The result was different.
*BIOLOGICAL MOTHER-CHILD RELATIONSHIP: 99.99%.*
I stared at the name.
Patient 014.
“Who is she?””
Vanessa looked at me.
“That's the woman Richard has been hiding at St. Catherine's.””
Elena shook her head.
“No. That's impossible.””
Vanessa removed a third document.
It was a photograph of a woman lying in a hospital bed.
She had Elena's face.
But her hair was completely white.
And on her wrist was a hospital identification bracelet.
I read the name.
*ELENA MERCER.*
I looked at my wife standing beside me.
Then at the photograph.
Then at Vanessa.
“How can there be two Elenas?””
Vanessa's voice dropped.
“Because the woman you married wasn't the only identical twin in this family.””
Elena stumbled backward.
“No,” she whispered.
Vanessa nodded.
“Your mother had another daughter before you and me. She gave her away. Richard found her years later.””
I looked at Richard.
He had stopped struggling with the security door.
He was staring at the photograph.
And for the first time, I saw something worse than guilt on his face.
Fear.
“Vanessa,” he whispered.
“You promised you would never reveal that.””
She smiled.
“I changed my mind.””
I looked at the photograph again.
The woman in the hospital bed had the same crescent-shaped scar beneath her left eyebrow.
The same scar Elena had.
The same scar Vanessa had.
Then Elena grabbed my wrist.
“Daniel, we have to get Lily away from here.””
“Why?””
She looked at the photograph.
“Because that woman isn't my sister.””
Vanessa's smile vanished.
Elena swallowed.
“She isn't even humanly capable of being our sister.””
A loud bang shook the corridor.
The security door began opening.
And Richard spoke the words that made every hair on my arms stand up.
“She's not your sister, Elena.””
He looked directly at Lily.
“She's your daughter.””
I turned toward him.
Richard's face had gone completely pale.
May you like
Then he added:
“And if that child discovers who her real father is, every person in this family will be in danger.””
