Chapter 4: The Mother Who Wanted the Child Gone

Michael stared at his father.

“Sarah told me her mother died when she was young.”

“Victoria was declared dead after a boating accident twenty years ago,” Thomas said. “But Sarah discovered she had survived.”

“Why would her own mother poison Emily?”

“Because Victoria never wanted Sarah to inherit the company.”

Michael’s expression hardened.

“Then who did she want to inherit it?”

“Her son.”

“Sarah had a brother?”

“A half brother. Julian Bennett.”

Michael recognized that name too.

Julian Bennett was the polished public face of Bennett Pharmaceuticals.

He had recently announced plans to take the company public.

If Emily existed, his control could be challenged.

Michael called hospital security and ordered the ICU locked down.

Then he contacted Detective Laura Hayes, an old friend from medical school who had joined the homicide division.

Laura arrived within thirty minutes.

She listened carefully as Michael explained the poisoning, Sarah’s death, and the woman in the red coat.

“You understand how this sounds,” Laura said.

“I don’t care how it sounds.”

“The toxicology is real,” she replied. “That gives us grounds to investigate.”

Thomas handed her the bracelet.

Laura placed it in an evidence bag.

“I’ll check surveillance footage.”

Michael returned to Emily’s room.

She was sleeping again.

Thomas stood beside the window.

“I should have told you years ago,” he said.

Michael did not look at him.

“You should have.”

“I was ashamed.”

“You were afraid I would hate you.”

“Yes.”

Michael turned.

“You were right.”

Thomas absorbed the words without defending himself.

Michael continued, quieter now.

“But Emily needs us both.”

Thomas looked at him with fragile hope.

“That doesn’t mean I forgive you.”

“I understand.”

Laura returned an hour later with disturbing news.

“The woman used a stolen hospital badge. Her face appears on three cameras, but facial recognition found no match under Victoria Bennett.”

“She changed her identity,” Michael said.

“Possibly. There’s more.”

Laura placed a photograph on the table.

It showed a black sedan outside Thomas’s farmhouse.

“That vehicle was registered to David Mercer.”

“Sarah’s attorney,” Thomas said.

Laura nodded.

“And Mercer was found dead this morning.”

Michael’s stomach tightened.

“How?”

“Apparent suicide. But there was no weapon at the scene.”

Thomas sank into a chair.

Laura looked at Michael.

“We also found something in Mercer’s apartment.”

She handed him a sealed envelope.

His name was written across the front.

Dr. Michael Carter.

Inside was a single flash drive and a note.

Michael read it aloud.

“If Emily reaches you alive, trust no one inside Bennett Pharmaceuticals. Sarah discovered that her daughter was not the only child they used.”

Michael looked up.

“What does that mean?”

Laura inserted the flash drive into her laptop.

A video began playing.

Sarah appeared on the screen.

She looked frightened and exhausted.

“Michael,” she said, “if you are watching this, I am probably dead.”

Michael’s face crumpled.

Sarah continued.

“Emily is your daughter. But that is not the only reason they want her.”

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