Chapter 2 - THE PAPER BENEATH THE MATTRESS
The door clicked shut again.
Chloe waited.
Ten seconds.
Twenty.
Thirty.
Then her eyes opened.
Daniel had not touched her.
He had not kissed her forehead.
He had not even walked toward his newborn daughter.
That hurt more than she expected.
But there was no time for heartbreak.
Chloe pushed herself upright.
Her daughter stirred.
“Shh.”
She lifted the baby carefully.
“I’m getting you out of here.”
But how?
The door remained locked.
Her phone was missing.
The call button was dead.
And Chloe could barely walk.
Then she remembered Nurse Sarah.
Sarah had been there during the final hours of labor.
Kind eyes.
Royal blue scrubs.
Steady hands.
When Chloe had begun hemorrhaging, Sarah had refused to leave her side.
More importantly, Sarah had whispered something shortly after the delivery.
“If anyone tries to move the baby without me present, refuse.”
At the time, Chloe had assumed it was routine hospital advice.
Now it sounded like a warning.
Chloe searched the room.
Drawer.
Cabinet.
Bathroom.
Nothing.
Then she noticed one corner of the mattress was raised.
Barely.
She slipped her fingers underneath.
Something touched her hand.
Paper.
Chloe pulled it free.
A sealed white envelope.
There was no hospital logo.
Only her name.
CHLOE.
Written in black ink.
Across the back was a silver wax seal.
Her pulse accelerated.
She broke it.
Inside were several laboratory pages.
DNA markers.
Names.
Dates.
Numbers.
At first they meant nothing.
Then she saw Daniel’s name.
DANIEL VANCE.
Below it:
PATERNITY RELATIONSHIP: CONFIRMED.
Chloe frowned.
Of course Daniel was the father.
Why hide that?
She turned the page.
Another genetic comparison appeared.
This time the names were:
DANIEL VANCE.
ELEANOR VANCE.
Chloe’s eyes moved downward.
She read the conclusion once.
Then again.
And again.
NO BIOLOGICAL MATERNAL RELATIONSHIP IDENTIFIED.
The paper shook in her hands.
Eleanor was not Daniel’s biological mother.
But the next page was worse.
Much worse.
It contained an old hospital identification number.
A birth record.
A handwritten note.
And the name of a woman Chloe had never heard before.
Rebecca Hale.
Biological mother.
Deceased.
Chloe stared at the word.
Deceased.
A handwritten notation beside it read:
MATERNAL DEATH UNDER REVIEW.
Another page showed financial transfers from the Vance family trust shortly after Daniel’s birth.
Millions of dollars.
Assets moved.
Signatures changed.
Custody documents altered.
And at the bottom of the final page was a handwritten message.
If Chloe finds this, Eleanor knows about the baby.
Do not let Eleanor establish custody.
Chloe’s stomach dropped.
Someone had known.
Someone had anticipated this exact moment.
Suddenly the door handle rattled.
Chloe shoved the papers beneath her pillow.
A woman entered.
Royal blue scrubs.
Sarah.
She closed the door quickly.
Their eyes met.
Sarah saw Chloe’s face.
Then she saw the broken silver seal.
“Oh God,” Sarah whispered.
“You found it.”
Chloe stared at her.
“You put this here?”
Sarah locked the door from inside.
“Yes.”
“Who is Rebecca Hale?”
Sarah said nothing.
“Sarah.”
Still nothing.
Chloe’s voice cracked.
“Who was she?”
Sarah looked at the sleeping newborn.
Then back at Chloe.
“Daniel’s real mother.”
Chloe felt cold spread through her chest.
“And how did she die?”
Sarah swallowed.
“That’s the reason Eleanor wants your daughter.”
Chloe tightened her arms around the baby.
“Tell me.”
Sarah stepped closer.
“Rebecca didn't die naturally.”
Before Chloe could respond, footsteps thundered outside.
Sarah turned toward the door.
Her face changed instantly.
Fear.
“Too late.”
“What?”
“They know you have the envelope.”
The overhead lights suddenly went dark.
The heart monitor went silent.
Then the entire maternity wing plunged into emergency red illumination.
And from the other side of the locked door came a man’s voice.
“Hospital security.”
May you like
Sarah backed away.
“That isn’t hospital security.”
