Chapter 2: The Child Who Shouldn't Exist
Chapter 2: The Child Who Shouldn't Exist
The next morning, Grace secretly contacted the retired nurse whose name appeared on the original delivery records.
Margaret Dawson answered after several rings.
When Grace mentioned Sebastian Vance's name, the elderly woman's voice immediately changed.
"I told myself I'd never speak about that night again."
"But someone deserves the truth."
Grace drove three hours to Margaret's small farmhouse.
The retired nurse looked exhausted despite years away from the hospital.
She carried an old metal box into the kitchen.
Inside were photographs.
Medical bracelets.
Original delivery notes.
Margaret placed two identical newborn bracelets on the table.
Baby A.
Baby B.
"They were healthy," Margaret whispered.
"Both of them."
Grace stared at her.
"Then why does every record say only one survived?"
Margaret closed her eyes.
"Because Sebastian's father ordered it."
"He believed a prophecy passed through the Vance family for generations."
"The firstborn would inherit the fortune."
"The secondborn would destroy it."
"So they paid everyone."
"The doctor."
"The hospital administrator."
"Even me."
Tears rolled down Margaret's face.
"They took one baby away before his mother even woke up."
Grace struggled to breathe.
"Where did they take him?"
Margaret slowly slid one final photograph across the table.
A little boy.
About four years old.
Standing inside a children's shelter.
Written on the back were four words.
Adopted.
Identity permanently sealed.
Meanwhile, back at the estate, Isabella noticed someone watching the mansion through the front gates.
A teenage delivery worker stood outside holding several packages.
When the young man looked toward the nursery window, the baby suddenly stopped crying.
Their eyes met.
Neither understood why.
But both felt something impossible.
Recognition.
That evening, Sebastian entered his father's abandoned office.
Hidden inside the wall safe was a letter addressed to him.
If you're reading this...
...the second boy has found his way home.
You cannot stop blood from remembering blood.
Sebastian slowly lowered the letter.
May you like
For the first time in decades...
The powerful head of the Vance empire looked afraid.
