CHAPTER 4 — The Name on My Birth Certificate Wasn’t Mine
The graduation ceremony was suspended.
Students and families were moved away while campus police secured the area.
I sat inside Professor Hughes’s office with an ice pack against my cheek.
Across from me, Daniel connected the damaged laptop to an external monitor.
My parents had been taken to separate rooms.
Ethan was with campus police.
Professor Hughes stood beside me.
“You don’t have to look at this today.”
“Yes, I do.”
The folder opened.
There were scanned documents, hospital forms, legal records, and dozens of emails.
Daniel clicked the oldest file.
A birth certificate appeared.
The child’s name was not Emily Bennett.
It was Grace Holloway.
Mother: Sarah Holloway.
Father: Not listed.
Date of birth: the same as mine.
My fingers went numb.
“That’s not me.”
Nobody answered.
Daniel opened another document.
A private adoption agreement.
Prospective parents: Richard and Linda Bennett.
But the signatures were incomplete.
The adoption had never been finalized.
Professor Hughes read the bottom of the page.
“Temporary guardianship pending maternal recovery.”
I looked at her.
“What maternal recovery?”
Daniel opened a hospital report.
Sarah Holloway had suffered severe injuries in a car crash three days after giving birth.
She had fallen into a coma.
The Bennetts were listed as family friends who had agreed to care for the infant temporarily.
Temporarily.
I stared at that word until the letters blurred.
My parents had always told me my birth records were sealed because I had been born prematurely.
They had told me Linda nearly died giving birth to me.
They had shown me hospital photographs.
Had those been fake too?
A soft knock came at the door.
A campus officer entered.
“Ms. Bennett, there’s a woman downstairs asking for you.”
“Who?”
The officer hesitated.
“She says her name is Sarah Holloway.”
The room tilted.
Daniel stood abruptly.
“That isn’t possible.”
“Why not?” I whispered.
May you like
He looked at the hospital report.
“Because according to these files, Sarah Holloway died nineteen years ago.”
