Chapter 3: The Mother Who Never Stopped Looking
Dad gripped the phone.
“Rebecca, what are you talking about?””
There was heavy breathing on the other end.
“Marcus, you have to listen to me. Vanessa knows about the storage unit. She knows you found the adoption papers.””
Dad looked toward the entrance.
“Why would she be coming here?””
“Because she wants to move Maya before you can ask any more questions.””
I felt my stomach tighten.
“Why would she want to move me?””
Rebecca went silent.
Then she answered.
“Because you're not the daughter she originally agreed to take.””
Dad closed his eyes.
“Explain.””
“I will. But not over the phone.””
“Where are you?””
“St. Mary's Hospital. Room 308. I've been waiting for this day for eighteen years.””
Dad looked at me.
“We're coming.””
Rebecca spoke quickly.
“Marcus, don't bring Vanessa.””
The call ended.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then Dad put the phone in his pocket.
“We're going to the hospital.””
I looked at the adoption form.
“Dad, am I really her daughter?””
He held my face between his hands.
“You are my daughter. Nothing changes that.””
“But I'm not…”
He shook his head.
“Your mother loved you. The woman who raised you loved you. And I love you. Whatever happened eighteen years ago, none of that changes what you mean to me.””
His words made my eyes burn.
But they didn't answer the question.
Who had given birth to me?
And why had she been forced to give me away?
St. Mary's Hospital smelled of disinfectant and burnt coffee.
We found room 308 on the third floor.
A woman sat beside the window.
She was thinner than the woman in the photographs. Her dark hair was streaked with gray, and her hands rested on a blanket covering her knees.
But I recognized her immediately.
Rebecca.
She looked up when we entered.
Her eyes moved from Dad to me.
Then she stood.
“Maya?””
I nodded.
She pressed a hand against her mouth.
“Oh, sweetheart.””
I didn't move.
She took one cautious step forward.
“Can I hug you?””
I wanted to say yes.
I wanted to run into her arms and ask why she had abandoned me.
Instead, I asked the only question I could manage.
“Why did you give me away?””
Rebecca's face crumpled.
“I didn't want to.””
“Then why?””
She looked at Dad.
“Can we sit down?””
Dad pulled a chair beside the bed.
Rebecca reached into the drawer of her bedside table and removed a small photograph.
It showed two young women standing outside a hospital.
One was Rebecca.
The other was a woman I had seen in hundreds of family photographs.
My mother.
My late mother, Elena.
I stared.
“That's my mom.””
Rebecca nodded.
“Yes.””
Dad leaned forward.
“Why were you together?””
Rebecca took a trembling breath.
“Because Elena was my sister.””
The room went silent.
I stared at her.
“What?””
“Your mother was my older sister.””
Dad looked as though someone had struck him.
“Elena was your sister?””
Rebecca nodded.
“She was the only person who knew about my pregnancy before the girls were born. She helped me through everything.””
I looked at the photograph again.
The woman I had called Mom was my biological mother's sister.
Rebecca continued.
“Your mother couldn't have children. She and Marcus had been trying for years before you were born. When she learned I was pregnant with twins, she offered to help.””
Dad frowned.
“Elena never told me.””
“She was afraid you would feel pressured. We agreed that one baby would stay with me, and the other would be raised by Elena and you. It was supposed to be a legal adoption. We were supposed to do everything properly.””
“Then what happened?”” I asked.
Rebecca looked down at her hands.
“Vanessa happened.””
She explained that after Sky and I were born, complications developed.
Rebecca needed emergency surgery.
She was exhausted, frightened, and heavily medicated.
Elena had gone home to prepare the nursery.
Vanessa, who had been a close friend of Elena's at the time, offered to help with the paperwork.
“She told me she would handle everything,” Rebecca said.
“She said Elena had agreed to let her complete the adoption arrangements.””
Dad shook his head.
“Elena would never have agreed to that.””
“She didn't.””
Rebecca looked at me.
“While I was recovering, Vanessa changed the paperwork. She arranged for you to be discharged into her care instead of Elena's.””
I felt sick.
“Why?””
Rebecca's eyes filled.
“Because she wanted to control Marcus.””
Dad stood.
“What?””
Rebecca continued.
“Vanessa had been trying to build a relationship with you before she married Marcus. She believed that if she raised his daughter, he would become attached to her. She thought she could replace Elena and secure her place in his life.””
Dad stared at the wall.
Rebecca reached for another document.
“She told me she would eventually bring you to Marcus. She promised that once the marriage was settled, everything would be explained.””
“But she never did,” I whispered.
“No.””
Rebecca wiped her cheek.
“Instead, she told me Elena had changed her mind. She said Elena didn't want you anymore.””
I shook my head.
“That isn't true.””
“I know.””
Rebecca's voice broke.
“I found out the truth six months later. I went to Elena's house. Vanessa told me she had moved away. She even showed me a letter supposedly written by Elena asking me never to contact her again.””
Dad looked at Rebecca.
“Did you believe her?””
“I didn't know what to believe. I was recovering from surgery. I had Sky to care for. And Vanessa kept sending money.””
“Why did you accept it?””
Rebecca looked directly at me.
“Because she threatened to have Sky taken away if I kept asking questions.””
My throat tightened.
“Did you know where I was?””
Rebecca nodded.
“I knew you were with Vanessa. I didn't know where she would take you after she married Marcus.””
Dad looked at the photograph.
“Why didn't you contact Elena?””
Rebecca began crying.
“I did.””
She opened another drawer and pulled out a sealed envelope.
It had been returned to her.
The address was Elena's old house.
On the back was a handwritten message.
Elena passed away. Stop contacting this family.
I recognized the handwriting.
Vanessa's.
Dad took the envelope.
“Where did you get this?””
“It was returned to me three years after the twins were born. I tried again, but Vanessa told me Elena had died and that Marcus had moved on.””
Dad lowered his head.
“That's impossible. Elena died when Maya was eleven.””
Rebecca stared at him.
“I know. I saw her funeral announcement.””
The room fell silent.
For several seconds, I could hear only the monitor beside Rebecca's bed.
Then I asked:
“Did my mother know I was with Vanessa?””
Rebecca nodded.
“She found out eventually.””
My heart began pounding.
“What?””
“Six months before Elena died, she came to see me.””
Dad looked up sharply.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because she begged me not to.””
Rebecca reached beneath her pillow and pulled out a small notebook.
“Your mother was afraid Vanessa would take Maya away if she discovered the truth. She said she had already tried confronting her, but Vanessa threatened to expose something that would destroy Marcus.””
Dad frowned.
“What could Vanessa possibly have known about me?””
Rebecca opened the notebook.
Inside were several pages of handwriting.
I recognized my mother's writing immediately.
The first line made my stomach turn.
If anything happens to me, Marcus must know that Vanessa did not marry him by accident.
Dad took the notebook.
He read the next sentence.
His face changed.
Then he read it again.
“What is this?”” he whispered.
Rebecca looked at him.
“Your wife knew about the accident.””
Dad stopped breathing.
“What accident?””
Rebecca's eyes filled with tears.
“The accident that killed Elena.””
I felt the blood drain from my face.
My mother had died in a car accident on a rainy evening.
I had been told a truck crossed the center line.
The driver had never been found.
Dad had spent years blaming himself for not driving her that night.
“What are you saying?”” he demanded.
Rebecca pointed to the notebook.
“Elena believed someone had tampered with her car.””
Dad shook his head.
“No.””
“She told me Vanessa had been following her. She said she found documents proving Vanessa had changed Maya's adoption papers.””
Dad gripped the notebook.
“Why didn't you tell the police?””
“I tried. Vanessa had already given them a statement. She said Elena had been depressed and confused.””
I stepped toward Rebecca.
“Are you saying Vanessa killed my mother?””
Rebecca shook her head.
“I'm saying your mother was afraid of her. And she left evidence because she believed something terrible might happen.””
Dad turned the page.
A small photograph slipped out.
It showed a black sedan parked outside a house.
My mother's car.
On the windshield was a handwritten note.
Stop asking questions.
Dad stared at the photograph.
Then he noticed a date written in the corner.
The date was two days before the accident.
His phone began ringing.
Vanessa.
He answered and put it on speaker.
“Marcus, where are you?””
“At the hospital.””
A pause.
“Who are you with?””
Dad looked at me.
“Rebecca.””
Silence.
Then Vanessa's voice changed.
“You need to come home immediately.””
“No.””
“Marcus, listen to me. You're making a terrible mistake.””
“Did you change Maya's adoption papers?””
No answer.
“Did you lie to Elena?””
“Marcus…”
“Did you have anything to do with her accident?””
Vanessa began crying.
“You have no idea what she was planning to do!””
Dad went completely still.
“What did you just say?””
Vanessa's breathing became uneven.
“She was going to destroy everything.””
“Everything WHAT?””
“I didn't mean for it to happen!””
The call disconnected.
Dad stared at the phone.
I looked at Rebecca.
Her face had turned white.
Then she whispered something that made my blood freeze.
“Marcus, you need to find Sky.””
“Why?””
Rebecca looked at me.
“Because Vanessa didn't just hide one daughter.””
She reached for my hand.
“She switched the twins.””
Dad frowned.
“What?””
Rebecca's voice trembled.
“The baby Vanessa took from the hospital wasn't Maya.””
I stared at her.
“Then who was I?””
Rebecca began sobbing.
“You were the daughter Elena was supposed to raise.””
She looked at Dad.
“And the other twin—the one Vanessa told everyone was Sky—was the baby she secretly placed with another family.””
My father's phone vibrated.
A new message appeared.
It was from Caleb.
Dad, I'm sorry. I found the original adoption papers.
A second message followed.
The name on them isn't Maya.
Then a photograph arrived.
It showed an original hospital document.
Two baby names.
Two sets of fingerprints.
And beneath one of them, a name that made Rebecca scream.
*ELENA REED.*
I looked at my father.
Because Elena was not the name of either twin.
It was the name of the woman who had raised me.
And suddenly, I understood.
Vanessa hadn't simply stolen a child.
May you like
She had built an entire family around a lie.
And Caleb had just found the proof that could destroy everything.
