Chapter 12 - The Baby Nobody Mentioned
Mara had been eight weeks pregnant when she was taken.
She lost the baby at Briar Hill.
She told me in a courthouse conference room while Noah colored quietly outside with Rachel.
I sat across from her.
For a long time, neither of us spoke.
Finally, I whispered, “I didn’t know.”
“I know.”
“Was it mine?”
Mara looked at me sharply.
Then her expression softened.
“Of course.”
I covered my face.
Something inside me collapsed.
Four years of lies suddenly contained another life.
A child I had never known existed.
“I’m sorry.”
Mara shook her head.
“Don’t apologize for what you didn’t know.”
“I should have known you were missing for a reason.”
“You were being manipulated too.”
“I got to sleep in my own bed.”
She didn’t answer.
“I got to raise Noah.”
Her eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“I married one of the people who did this to you.”
“That one still hurts.”
I nodded.
“It should.”
The door opened.
Benjamin entered with a detective named Carla Reyes.
“We got the warrant.”
“For Vivi’s study?”
Reyes nodded.
“They found a safe.”
Inside the safe were copies of Mara’s letters.
One hundred and eighty-seven of them.
Still sealed.
There were photographs of Noah.
Medical records.
Copies of my private emails.
And a red folder.
Reyes placed it on the table.
Mara stared at it.
“What’s that?”
“Briar Hill.”
Inside were payment instructions.
Signed statements.
False evaluations.
A list of people who had been paid.
Then Reyes removed a handwritten note.
Cecilia’s handwriting.
Six months only.
Below it, in Vivi’s handwriting:
Not enough. She’ll come back.
My blood went cold.
Mara closed her eyes.
Reyes continued.
“We also recovered recorded phone calls.”
“What calls?”
“Between Vivienne and Briar Hill administrators.”
One recording was dated ten months after Mara’s admission.
Vivi’s voice:
“She cannot be discharged.”
A man answered.
“Ms. Ellis no longer meets the criteria.”
“I don’t care.”
“We could face an audit.”
“Then change the criteria.”
Mara started shaking.
I reached across the table.
This time, she took my hand.
The recording continued.
The administrator asked:
“Why are you doing this?”
There was a pause.
Then Vivi answered.
“Because if she goes home, I lose everything.”
The file ended.
Detective Reyes took a breath.
“There’s one more thing.”
She slid a bank document toward us.
Seven transfers.
Total amount:
$920,000.
All sent to an offshore account.
Beneficiary:
Vivienne Cross.
But the originating account wasn’t my mother’s.
It wasn’t Vivi’s.
It belonged to someone I trusted even more.
May you like
My father.
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