PART 4

“I don’t know.”

That answer scared me more than certainty would have.

Daniel continued.

“I’m going to have a private investigator check the public records surrounding your birth. Hospital records, property records, family court filings, anything legally accessible. But there’s something you can do.”

“What?”

“Ask your mother one question.”

“Which one?”

“Don’t ask what happened on July 14.”

I waited.

“Ask her where you were born.”

I frowned.

“I know where I was born.”

“Do you?”

I stared at the wall.

St. Agnes Medical Center.

That was what my mother had always said.

But suddenly I realized something.

I had never seen my birth certificate.

My parents had always kept the original documents in a locked filing cabinet.

I had asked for my birth certificate once when I got my passport.

My mother had handed me a photocopy.

I’d never questioned it.

“Daniel…”

“Yes?”

“I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Claire, breathe.”

“What if—”

“Don’t finish that sentence.”

“But what if I’m not…”

“Don’t guess. We’ll find out.”

My mother didn’t answer my first call.

Or my second.

On the third, she picked up.

“Claire?”

“Mom, where was I born?”

Silence.

Not normal silence.

The kind that tells you the person on the other end has just dropped something.

“Why are you asking that?”

“Because Dad left me a note.”

Her voice changed.

“What note?”

“He told me to ask you what happened on July 14, 1995.”

Another silence.

Then my mother whispered:

“Your father had no right.”

I closed my eyes.

“Where was I born?”

“St. Agnes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“Then why did Dad say I should ask you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Mom.”

“I don’t know!”

She sounded frightened now.

“Did something happen?”

“No.”

“Did I almost die?”

“No.”

“Was I sick?”

“No.”

“Then what happened?”

She started crying.

And that was the moment I knew.

Something had happened.

Something she had been carrying for thirty-one years.

“Mom,” I said quietly, “tell me the truth.”

She didn’t answer.

Instead, she whispered:

“You should ask your father.”

“He wrote the note.”

“Then ask him.”

“He isn’t answering.”

My mother’s breathing became uneven.

Then she said something I would never forget.

“Because he was there.”

“Where?”

“At the hospital.”

“Doing what?”

She hung up.

Three hours later, Daniel called.

“I found something.”

I sat down.

“What?”

“Your birth record has been amended.”

My heart stopped.

“What does that mean?”

“There was an original record and a later correction.”

“What correction?”

“Parentage.”

I couldn’t speak.

Daniel continued carefully.

“Your birth certificate was originally filed with one mother’s name.”

My hands went cold.

“Who?”

He paused.

“Your mother.”

I exhaled.

Then he said:

“But there was another woman listed in the original hospital record.”

My mouth went dry.

“Who?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“The name was handwritten and later removed from the certified copy.”

I stood.

“Daniel, please.”

“Claire, I need you to stay calm.”

“Tell me.”

“The woman’s name was Elena Whitaker.”

My knees weakened.

“Whitaker?”

“Yes.”

“My mother’s maiden name?”

“No.”

I sat down again.

“Then who was she?”

“We’re still trying to establish that.”

I stared at the floor.

“Could she be my biological mother?”

“We don’t know.”

“And Dad knew?”

“Apparently.”

I covered my face.

Thirty-one years.

Thirty-one years of birthdays.

Christmases.

School photographs.

Mother’s Day cards.

Arguments.

Apologies.

Everything I had believed about myself suddenly felt like a house built on sand.

Then Daniel said:

“There is another issue.”

I looked up.

“What?”

“July 14 wasn’t just your birthday.”

“What else happened?”

“Your parents purchased their house.”

I frowned.

“What?”

“The house you grew up in.”

“They bought it that summer.”

“July 14, 1995.”

I stared at the phone.

“The exact day I was born?”

“Yes.”

I suddenly remembered my mother’s favorite story.

She had told it hundreds of times.

She always said that after bringing me home from the hospital, they drove to the house they had just purchased and carried me through the front door.

It was supposed to be a beautiful beginning.

Except now I wondered whether the story had ever happened that way.

Daniel arranged for me to meet the private investigator that afternoon.

His name was Marcus Hill.

He was sixty-one, retired from law enforcement, and had the calm manner of someone who had spent decades watching people lie badly.

He placed a folder on the table.

“I found three things.”

I looked at him.

“Three?”

He nodded.

“First, your parents didn’t buy the house on July 14.”

I frowned.

“They didn’t?”

“No.”

“The deed says July 14.”

“The deed was recorded July 14.”

He slid another document toward me.

“The purchase contract was signed June 29.”

I stared at it.

“Why would Dad tell me they bought it on my birthday?”

“Because that’s the story your mother told you.”

“What happened June 29?”

Marcus opened another folder.

“Hospital records.”

My heart started pounding.

“June 29 was the day your mother was admitted to St. Agnes.”

I looked at him.

“For what?”

“Pregnancy complications.”

I couldn’t breathe.

“Pregnancy?”

Marcus nodded.

“She was twenty-nine weeks pregnant.”

I stared at him.

“But I was born July 14.”

“Correct.”

“That’s only two weeks.”

“Correct.”

I looked at Daniel.

Nobody spoke.

Then Marcus said:

“Your mother was admitted on June 29 under her own name.”

“And?”

“She was discharged July 15.”

My entire body went cold.

“What happened during those sixteen days?”

Marcus opened the final folder.

“There was an emergency delivery.”

My hands began shaking.

“Of me?”

He didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he pushed a photograph across the table.

It was old.

Faded.

A hospital bracelet.

BABY GIRL — JULY 14, 1995

Underneath it was another bracelet.

BABY GIRL — JULY 14, 1995

I stared.

“Two babies?”

Marcus nodded.

“Twins.”

I couldn’t speak.

“Your mother gave birth to two girls.”

The room seemed to tilt.

“One survived?”

“No.”

I looked up sharply.

“Then who died?”

Marcus took a breath.

“The other baby.”

My throat closed.

“Who was she?”

He pushed another document toward me.

A death certificate.

Baby Girl Whitaker.

No first name.

Date of birth: July 14, 1995.

Date of death: July 14, 1995.

I stared at it.

Then something clicked.

Vanessa.

My older sister.

She was three years older.

There was no twin.

So who was this baby?

Marcus looked at me.

“We don’t know her name.”

I whispered:

“Then why did Dad tell me to ask about July 14?”

Marcus looked down.

“Because your father wasn’t your biological father.”

Silence.

Daniel closed his eyes.

I felt something inside me break.

Not because I suddenly hated my father.

Because I didn’t know who he was anymore.

I went to my parents’ house that night.

Not alone.

Daniel came with me.

Marcus stayed in the car.

My father opened the door.

He looked twenty years older than he had that morning.

“Claire.”

“Where’s Mom?”

CONTINUE FOR NEXT PART…