Chapter 6 - The Second Crib
I barely remembered breathing.
Twins.
My wife had never told me.
Vanessa had hidden it.
Marcus knew.
And somewhere in the world was another child carrying my blood.
“Where?”
Marcus smiled.
“Ask Vanessa.”
Vanessa looked at him with pure hatred.
“You idiot.”
“You can't control this anymore.”
I stepped between them.
“Where is my child?”
Marcus said nothing.
I grabbed his collar.
“Where?”
“Boston.”
My grip tightened.
“Where in Boston?”
“An old Catholic hospital.”
Daniel immediately pulled out his phone.
“I'll find the records.”
Vanessa suddenly screamed.
“No!”
I turned.
That single word told me everything.
“Which hospital?”
She said nothing.
I approached.
“Which hospital?”
“You'll destroy everything.”
“You already destroyed my family.”
She looked at Sophie.
Then Caleb.
Then me.
Finally she whispered:
“St. Catherine's.”
Daniel froze.
“That hospital closed eleven years ago.”
“Records?”
“Archived.”
“Find them.”
Within hours, Daniel had located the records.
A birth certificate.
Two babies.
One mother.
One father.
One surviving child listed as—
Unknown.
The second child's name had been removed.
I stared at the document.
“Who removed it?”
Daniel shook his head.
“We don't know.”
Then he found another file.
Adoption papers.
My signature.
Again.
Forged.
The child had been adopted seven months after birth.
By a couple in Maine.
I felt something inside me break.
“Names.”
Daniel looked up.
“Thomas and Evelyn Carter.”
I knew the name.
Thomas Carter was a retired federal judge.
A man with enough influence to hide a child forever.
I called him.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Then a message arrived.
Unknown number.
Stop looking.
A photograph followed.
I opened it.
A teenage boy stood beside a lake.
Dark-blond hair.
Brown eyes.
And beneath his left ear—
A crescent-shaped mark.
My hands began shaking.
May you like
The caption read:
His name is Noah.
