Chapter 6 - THE NURSE WHO SWITCHED THE BABIES
Alexander Vale remained outside the ballroom.
Nobody opened the doors.
He didn’t leave.
That frightened Diane more than anything.
“He’s waiting.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“For what?”
“For us to panic.”
Victoria wiped tears from her face.
“A little late for that.”
Evelyn looked at her scar again.
Every childhood memory suddenly felt contaminated.
Margaret kissing that hand.
Margaret telling her the scar meant she had survived something difficult.
Margaret never explaining what.
Had Margaret known?
Evelyn looked at Diane.
“Who delivered us?”
Diane hesitated.
“Dr. Henry Lawson.”
“Who else?”
“Nurses.”
“Names.”
“I don’t remember.”
Alexander’s voice came through the speaker.
“I do.”
Everyone turned toward the screen.
He held up a photograph.
A woman in a white nurse’s uniform.
Evelyn recognized her.
Her heart stopped.
“No.”
Victoria looked at her.
“You know her?”
Evelyn stepped toward the screen.
The woman in the photograph was younger.
But unmistakable.
Soft eyes.
Dark hair.
Small mole beneath her right ear.
Evelyn whispered,
“Aunt Rose.”
Alexander smiled.
“There we are.”
Evelyn turned toward Nathan.
“My mother’s best friend.”
Nathan nodded slowly.
“She raised you after Margaret died.”
Evelyn stared at the photograph.
Rose Bennett had been part of her life since childhood.
Birthdays.
Graduations.
Christmas mornings.
Hospital visits.
When Margaret died, Rose became the closest thing Evelyn had left to family.
Evelyn reached for her phone.
Nathan stopped her.
“Wait.”
“Why?”
“If Rose switched the babies, Alexander knows she did.”
“So?”
“So why show us?”
Evelyn understood.
“He wants me to contact her.”
Nathan nodded.
Alexander smiled through the camera.
“Smart boy.”
Evelyn looked at the screen.
“You’re listening to us.”
“Of course.”
Marcus immediately began checking the room.
Alexander laughed.
“Don’t bother.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“What do you want?”
“You.”
“Why?”
“You’re my daughter.”
“That didn’t matter for thirty-two years.”
“It mattered every day.”
Evelyn almost laughed.
“Then why did my mother think I was dead?”
Alexander’s smile faded.
“Because Margaret betrayed me.”
Evelyn’s anger surged.
“She was unconscious.”
“Before that.”
“What did she do?”
Alexander looked toward Charles.
“She tried to take my company.”
Evelyn frowned.
“Your company?”
Charles spoke.
“Langley-Vale wasn’t Margaret’s idea.”
Alexander looked amused.
“Finally.”
Charles continued.
“It was his.”
Victoria stared.
“You worked for him?”
Charles laughed bitterly.
“We all did.”
Evelyn looked at Diane.
She didn’t deny it.
Alexander spoke again.
“Your mother was brilliant.”
“She was also naive.”
“She believed ownership meant signatures and percentages.”
“I understood that ownership meant control.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“You sound exactly like Victoria did twenty minutes ago.”
Victoria flinched.
Alexander looked at Victoria.
“And whose fault is that?”
Victoria’s eyes narrowed.
“Yours, apparently.”
Something shifted in Evelyn.
Small.
Unexpected.
Victoria was still arrogant.
Still cruel.
Still responsible for what she had done.
But she was beginning to fight the same enemy.
Alexander looked at Evelyn.
“Call Rose.”
“No.”
“She knows the truth.”
“So do you.”
“I know my truth.”
Evelyn’s voice sharpened.
“That sentence tells me you’re lying.”
Alexander smiled.
“You really are Margaret’s daughter.”
Victoria folded her arms.
“So am I.”
Alexander looked at her.
His expression became dismissive.
“Biologically.”
Victoria’s face hardened.
Evelyn noticed.
Alexander had just made a mistake.
He wanted one daughter.
Not two.
And Victoria finally understood which one.
Evelyn looked at her phone.
Then at Nathan.
“Can we trace a call?”
“Yes.”
She dialed Rose.
The phone rang once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then Rose answered.
“Evelyn?”
Her voice was shaking.
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“Aunt Rose.”
“Oh, sweetheart.”
“Are you safe?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
“Home.”
Nathan shook his head.
The trace showed movement.
Rose was lying.
Evelyn continued.
“Rose.”
“Yes?”
“Why did you switch us?”
Silence.
Then a soft sob.
Evelyn’s eyes filled.
“So it was you.”
Rose whispered,
“I’m sorry.”
Victoria stepped closer to the phone.
“Which one am I?”
Rose stopped breathing.
Victoria repeated,
“Which baby am I?”
Rose began crying.
“I tried to save you both.”
Evelyn’s voice broke.
“From what?”
“From him.”
Alexander’s face remained on the ballroom screen.
Rose continued.
“Alexander didn’t want daughters.”
“He wanted leverage.”
“Margaret discovered what he was planning.”
“What plan?”
Rose’s breathing became ragged.
“He was going to use one child against Margaret.”
“And the other?”
Rose went silent.
Evelyn felt cold.
“What was he going to do with the other baby?”
Rose whispered,
“Make sure nobody knew twins had ever existed.”
Victoria covered her mouth.
Evelyn looked at Alexander.
He showed no emotion.
Rose continued.
“Margaret begged me.”
“She knew they were going to separate you.”
“She told me if I had one chance…”
Rose began sobbing.
“…confuse them.”
“So I switched the bands.”
“Then Charles removed them.”
“After that, nobody knew which baby was which.”
Evelyn looked at her scar.
“But Diane marked me.”
“Yes.”
“So why did I end up with Margaret?”
Rose was silent.
“Rose?”
“I switched you again.”
Diane gasped.
Evelyn stared.
“When?”
“Before discharge.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew Diane would take the marked baby.”
“So I moved the identification.”
Victoria whispered,
“You gave her back to Margaret.”
“Yes.”
Evelyn’s chest tightened.
“And Victoria?”
Rose began crying harder.
“I thought Charles’s house would be safer than Alexander.”
Victoria laughed bitterly.
“You thought wrong.”
“I know.”
A sudden sound came through Rose’s phone.
A car door.
Then footsteps.
Rose gasped.
“No.”
Evelyn stood.
“Rose?”
“Evelyn, listen to me.”
“Where are you?”
“Don’t trust Nathan.”
Nathan froze.
Evelyn turned toward him.
Rose’s voice became frantic.
“Do you hear me?”
“Do not trust Nathan Cole.”
The call ended.
Evelyn stared at Nathan.
He slowly raised both hands.
“I don’t know why she said that.”
Evelyn backed away.
Alexander smiled from the screen.
Then another voice came from behind Evelyn.
“I do.”
Everyone turned.
A woman stood near the service entrance.
Gray hair.
Dark coat.
Tears streaming down her face.
Rose Bennett had entered the ballroom.
And she was pointing a shaking finger directly at Nathan.
“Because he isn’t Nathan Cole.”
Nathan went completely still.
May you like
Rose looked at Evelyn.
“The real Nathan died seventeen years ago.”
