Chapter 3
Linda refused to speak without a lawyer.
Dr. Hale refused to speak at all.
But Emily kept remembering things.
“She called Noah the replacement baby.”
I stared at her.
“The what?”
Emily sat beside me on the hospital bed.
“Grandma said it when she thought I was asleep.”
Daniel paced near the window.
Detective Morales wrote everything down.
“What exactly did she say?”
Emily squeezed her stuffed fox.
“She said, ‘When Noah arrives, Daniel will finally get the baby he was supposed to have.’”
Daniel stopped walking.
I looked at him.
“What baby were you supposed to have?”
His confusion seemed real.
“I have no idea.”
Detective Morales turned toward him.
“Do you have siblings?”
“A younger sister. Rebecca.”
“Children?”
“One daughter.”
“How old?”
“Six.”
My stomach tightened.
I had met Rebecca’s daughter, Lily, dozens of times.
Linda treated Lily like royalty.
Birthdays.
Private-school tuition.
Dance classes.
Meanwhile, Emily received cheaper gifts and constant criticism.
I always assumed Linda simply preferred Rebecca.
Now I wasn’t sure.
Daniel grabbed his phone.
“I’m calling my sister.”
Rebecca answered on the third ring.
“Daniel?”
“Where is Mom?”
“With you, apparently. She texted me that Sophie had some kind of breakdown.”
My hands curled into fists.
Daniel glanced at me.
“She lied.”
“What happened?”
He put the phone on speaker.
“Sophie caught Mom trying to take Noah.”
Silence.
Then Rebecca whispered, “Oh, God.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“You knew?”
“No.”
“Rebecca.”
“I knew Mom was planning something.”
“What?”
“She kept asking about Sophie’s delivery date.”
I felt sick.
Rebecca continued.
“She also asked if you had ever done a paternity test.”
Daniel stared at the phone.
“For Noah?”
“For Emily.”
The room went silent.
My daughter looked confused.
Daniel whispered, “Emily is my daughter.”
Rebecca started crying.
“I know.”
I stood despite the pain.
“Why would Linda question it?”
“I don’t know.”
Detective Morales asked, “Did your mother say anything else?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“She asked if Sophie still had the blue folder.”
I frowned.
“What blue folder?”
Rebecca immediately went quiet.
Daniel pressed her.
“Rebecca.”
“The one from your fertility treatment.”
I stared at my husband.
“We never had fertility treatment.”
Daniel looked just as confused.
“What?”
Rebecca whispered, “Then I’ve already said too much.”
She disconnected.
Daniel immediately called back.
No answer.
My heart hammered.
Detective Morales looked at us.
“You’re certain Emily was conceived naturally?”
“Yes.”
Daniel and I answered together.
She wrote something down.
Then a nurse entered carrying Noah.
“They finished his routine blood work.”
She handed me my son.
For several seconds, everything else disappeared.
Then the nurse looked confused.
“There is something odd.”
I looked up.
“What?”
“His blood type.”
Daniel frowned.
“What about it?”
The nurse hesitated.
“You’re listed as O positive, Mrs. Carter.”
“Yes.”
“And Mr. Carter is O negative.”
Daniel nodded.
The nurse looked toward Noah.
“But Noah is AB positive.”
The room went completely silent.
Daniel stared at our son.
May you like
“That’s impossible.”
And for the first time, I understood why Linda had been desperate to take him before anyone looked too closely.
