I didn't sleep.
Neither did Denise.
Dr. Hale stayed in the room until nearly four in the morning, sitting beside the bassinet and staring at my son whenever he stirred.
Grant left just before dawn.
Before he went, he gave me one warning.
"Don't confront Eleanor yet."
I looked at him.
"Why?"
"Because if she's frightened enough to admit anything, she may also be frightened enough to destroy whatever remains."
Denise nodded.
"He has a point."
I hated that he did.
At six seventeen, someone knocked on the door.
Julian walked in.
He was wearing yesterday's suit.
His collar was open.
His eyes were red.
He looked exhausted.
But he was smiling.
"Good morning."
I felt my stomach tighten.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to see my son."
"You've already seen him."
"I want him discharged."
Denise stood.
"No."
Julian looked at her.
"This doesn't concern you."
"It concerns me whenever my client is being threatened."
"I'm not threatening anyone."
He looked at me.
"I'm offering you an agreement."
"What agreement?"
"You sign temporary custody over to me."
I stared at him.
"Why?"
"So the child can be protected while everything is sorted out."
"Protected from what?"
He hesitated.
"From instability."
I almost laughed.
"You mean from me."
"I mean from circumstances."
He stepped toward the bassinet.
Dr. Hale moved between them.
Julian's eyes narrowed.
"You again."
Dr. Hale didn't move.
"Stay away from the child."
Julian gave a humorless smile.
"You're the doctor who cried when he saw him."
Dr. Hale's expression changed.
Julian noticed.
"Interesting."
"Why?"
"Because I've been wondering what you saw."
The doctor stared at him.
Julian's smile disappeared.
"What did you see?"
Dr. Hale said nothing.
Julian looked at me.
"You told him?"
"No."
"Then why is he looking at me like that?"
I said nothing.
He stepped closer.
"You know something."
I felt my heartbeat in my throat.
"Do I?"
"Yes."
He glanced at Denise.
Then at the table.
His eyes landed on the sealed envelope.
His face changed.
"What is that?"
"Nothing."
"Vivian."
He reached toward it.
Denise intercepted him.
"Don't."
He looked at her.
"You have no idea what you're interfering with."
"Actually, I think I do."
Julian stared at her.
Then he looked at Dr. Hale.
"Ask him."
"Ask me what?"
Julian's jaw tightened.
"Whether Daniel Hale is alive."
Silence.
I watched Dr. Hale.
His face had gone completely white.
Julian laughed once.
"That's what I thought."
My mouth went dry.
"You know the name Daniel Hale?"
He looked at me.
"Of course."
"How?"
"Because someone finally told me."
"Who?"
He didn't answer.
"Eleanor?"
His eyes flickered.
That was enough.
Julian turned away.
For the first time, he looked frightened.
"Who told you?" I asked.
He remained silent.
I stepped closer.
"You've spent three weeks moving money, demanding custody, and trying to control what happens to my son."
His face hardened.
"Be careful."
"No."
My voice surprised even me.
"You be careful."
I pointed toward the bassinet.
"He's not your bargaining chip."
Julian looked at the baby.
Then something strange crossed his face.
Not anger.
Grief.
It vanished almost immediately.
"I need to know who he is."
"You mean who you are."
His eyes snapped toward me.
Neither of us moved.
Denise whispered, "Vivian."
But it was too late.
Julian had heard the truth behind my words.
"What did you find?"
I didn't answer.
He came closer.
"What did you find?"
Dr. Hale stepped forward.
"Julian."
Julian turned.
"Don't call me that."
The doctor's face changed.
Julian's voice dropped.
"I've spent three weeks hearing that name and wondering whether it belongs to me."
My breath caught.
"You know."
He nodded.
"Not enough."
He looked at Dr. Hale.
"My mother refuses to speak."
"Because she knows."
Julian laughed bitterly.
"That's what I thought."
He looked at the floor.
"Three weeks ago, I found a locked box in my grandfather's office."
Denise listened carefully.
"Inside was a photograph."
"The same one?" I asked.
Julian looked at me.
"Maybe."
He rubbed his face.
"There were two babies."
I felt cold.
"One had a mark behind his ear."
He looked at Dr. Hale.
"The same mark you have."
Dr. Hale's eyes filled.
Julian continued.
"At first I thought it was some family resemblance."
"And then?"
"I found a name."
He swallowed.
"Daniel."
The room went silent.
"I asked my mother."
"What did she say?"
"She slapped me."
I stared at him.
"She told me never to say that name again."
Denise asked, "And you believed her?"
"No."
Julian looked toward the window.
"I hired someone."
"A private investigator?"
"Yes."
"What did he find?"
"Hospital records."
My pulse quickened.
"Then why are you here?"
Julian looked at me.
"Because the investigator disappeared."
"What?"
"He stopped answering."
"When?"
"Two days ago."
Denise's expression hardened.
"Do you have his name?"
Julian shook his head.
"I don't know if he's alive."
Dr. Hale closed his eyes.
The pattern was becoming darker.
Anyone who touched the old records seemed to vanish or retreat.
"Why did you file for custody?" I asked.
Julian stared at me.
"Because if the trust finds out I'm not who they think I am, everything changes."
"So you need my son."
"I need an heir."
The honesty startled me.
"Why?"
"Because the trust requires one."
"That doesn't explain the urgency."
He looked at the baby.
"It does if I lose the trust."
"How much?"
He didn't answer.
"How much, Julian?"
"More than enough to destroy me."
I shook my head.
"You could live without it."
"No."
His voice was quiet.
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
He looked at me.
"My company is already collapsing."
Denise stiffened.
"What?"
"Debt."
He rubbed his eyes.
"The money I moved wasn't stolen. It was being used to keep the company alive."
"Then why hide it?"
"Because the board would have removed me."
I stared at him.
"And the trust?"
"If I don't meet the condition by my thirty-fifth birthday, control transfers."
"To whom?"
"My uncle."
The words hung there.
Julian's desperation suddenly made sense.
He wasn't only protecting wealth.
He was trying to prevent the collapse of the entire life he had built.
But that still didn't explain why he had been so determined to deny the baby before birth.
"Why did you tell me the child wasn't yours?"
His expression changed.
"I was told to."
"By Eleanor?"
He nodded.
"When I told her you were pregnant, she panicked."
"Why?"
"She said the baby could destroy us."
I felt sick.
"Why?"
"Because she thought you might have inherited something."
"What?"
"I don't know."
He looked at the baby again.
"She wouldn't explain."
Dr. Hale stepped forward.
"Julian."
He looked at him.
"If you are Daniel, you need to know something."
Julian's expression froze.
"Say it."
"You may have been taken from your biological family."
Julian's face emptied.
I watched him struggle to breathe.
Then he whispered, "You think I'm your son."
Dr. Hale's eyes filled.
"I think it's possible."
Julian shook his head.
"No."
"You have the same eye pattern."
"No."
"The same birthmark."
Julian stepped backward.
"No."
"The same birth date."
"Stop."
Dr. Hale's voice broke.
"And I have spent thirty-four years believing you were dead."
Julian stared at him.
Then he turned toward me.
"What about the baby?"
I held my son tighter.
"We're testing."
"Whose DNA?"
"Yours."
His eyes widened.
"And mine?"
"Yes."
He stared at the sealed sample.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
"Hello?"
His face changed.
"What?"
Silence.
"Where?"
He listened.
Then slowly lowered the phone.
"What happened?" I asked.
He looked at me.
"The investigator was found."
"Where?"
"Dead."
Nobody spoke.
Julian looked at Dr. Hale.
Then at my son.
And for the first time, none of us doubted that someone was willing to kill to keep the past buried.
Click here to continue reading: PART 7: The DNA Results Arrived With a Match Nobody Expected, While Julian Discovered the Missing Nursery Record Hidden Inside His Grandfather’s Estate
My Son Had Barely Taken His First Breath When the Doctor Stared at Him as Though He Had Seen Someone He Lost Long Ago
Part 6 of 20
