Chapter 2 - THE SECRET IN THE SAFE
The paramedics arrived three minutes later.
Those three minutes felt like three years.
I carried Alora downstairs while Mara followed behind us, clutching the documents she'd recovered from the safe.
Kareen remained upstairs.
I had locked the bedroom door from the outside.
For the first time in my life, I was afraid of my own mother.
The paramedics examined Alora in the living room.
“She's experiencing abdominal pain,” one of them said.
“Is the baby okay?”
“We need to take her to the hospital.”
I nodded immediately.
“I’m coming.”
Alora reached for my hand.
I squeezed it.
“I’m right here.”
Her eyes were filled with tears.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
She looked toward the staircase.
“I should have told you.”
Before I could ask what she meant, the paramedics wheeled her outside.
I followed.
But Mara grabbed my arm.
“Thane.”
I turned.
She held out the black leather case.
“You need to see this before you go.”
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
My father stood beside a woman I didn't recognize.
She was holding a newborn baby.
On the back of the photograph was a date.
The date was thirty-two years ago.
My birth date.
My hands became cold.
“Who's the woman?”
Mara shook her head.
“I don't know.”
I looked at the baby.
Something about the face felt familiar.
Then I noticed my father wasn't smiling.
He looked terrified.
Beneath the photograph was another note.
Kareen is not the mother you think she is.
I stared at those words.
“Where did you find this?”
“In the safe.”
“Why didn't you show me before?”
“Because Mom caught me.”
I looked upstairs.
“She knew you were searching?”
Mara nodded.
“She called me tonight and told me she needed help getting something from your safe.”
“And you came?”
“I thought she wanted documents about Dad's estate.”
“What did she really want?”
Mara's eyes filled with tears.
“The photograph.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because she knew it was proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Before Mara could answer, the ambulance doors slammed shut.
Alora was leaving.
I climbed into my car.
But I couldn't shake the photograph.
My father.
A mysterious woman.
A newborn.
My birthday.
And a warning about my mother.
At the hospital, Alora was rushed into an examination room.
I waited outside.
Twenty minutes passed.
Then thirty.
Finally, a doctor stepped out.
“Mr. Vale?”
“Yes.”
“Your wife and baby appear to be stable.”
My knees almost gave out.
“Thank God.”
“She needs observation. The stress and physical trauma were significant.”
“Can I see her?”
“In a moment.”
I sat down.
Mara arrived fifteen minutes later.
She put the documents beside me.
“We need to talk.”
I looked at her.
“Start with Dad.”
She took a deep breath.
“Dad wasn't killed in an accident.”
The hallway seemed to disappear.
“What?”
“He was investigating Mom.”
“Investigating her for what?”
“Financial fraud. Identity theft. Forgery.”
I stared at my sister.
“Why didn't anyone tell me?”
“Because Mom threatened him.”
“With what?”
Mara lowered her voice.
“With you.”
I froze.
“She told Dad that if he exposed her, she'd make sure you disappeared.”
My throat tightened.
“How old was I?”
“Six.”
I remembered almost nothing from that year.
Except rain.
A hospital hallway.
My father's funeral.
And my mother telling me he had died because he had been driving too fast.
I had believed her for thirty years.
Mara continued.
“Dad left evidence.”
“Where?”
“In the safe.”
“That's what she was looking for.”
“Yes.”
“What's in the missing file?”
Mara looked around before answering.
“Your original birth records.”
I stared at her.
“My birth records?”
She nodded.
“Mom changed them.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
The door opened.
Alora was being wheeled into a private room.
I stood immediately.
As I entered, she looked at me.
“Is the baby okay?”
“Yes.”
She began crying.
I sat beside her.
For several seconds neither of us spoke.
Then I placed the photograph on the bed.
“Alora.”
She looked at it.
Her face changed.
She knew the woman.
I saw it immediately.
“You've seen her.”
Alora closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Who is she?”
She whispered:
“Your real mother.”
My entire world stopped.
“What?”
Alora reached for my hand.
“I found out six months ago.”
I pulled my hand away.
“You knew?”
“I wanted to tell you.”
“When?”
“After I was certain.”
“Certain about what?”
She looked at the photograph.
“That your father wasn't your biological father either.”
I stood.
“No.”
“Thane—”
“No.”
She began sobbing.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
I walked toward the window.
Outside, the storm had intensified.
Then my phone rang.
It was the hospital security desk.
“Mr. Vale?”
“Yes.”
“We have a problem.”
“What kind?”
“Your mother is here.”
My stomach dropped.
“How did she get in?”
“She says she has legal authority over your wife's medical decisions.”
I turned toward Alora.
May you like
Kareen appeared in the doorway.
And behind her stood two lawyers.
