Chapter 10 - The First Baby
Teresa woke the next morning and asked for coffee.
The nurse said no.
Teresa called the hospital “a dictatorship.”
Mara almost cried with relief.
Then she showed Teresa the birth certificate.
Teresa closed her eyes.
“The first baby,” Mara said.
“Yes.”
“Tell me.”
Teresa took a long time.
Finally: “Evelyn was pregnant before she married Charles.”
“Daniel?”
“No.”
Mara waited.
Teresa’s fingers worked at the edge of the blanket.
“Her first child was a girl.”
“What happened?”
“She was born alive. Charles arranged an adoption.”
“Why?”
“He would not raise another man’s child.”
Mara felt sick.
“And Daniel?”
“Years later, Evelyn became pregnant again. Charles believed Daniel was his. He wasn’t.”
“With the same man?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Teresa looked toward the door.
“Charles’s younger brother, Samuel.”
Mara stared.
A family tree built like a trap.
“Did Charles know?”
“Not until Daniel was twelve.”
“What did he do?”
“He changed the trust.”
Mara understood slowly.
“He made biological grandchildren the trigger.”
Teresa nodded.
“To punish Daniel.”
“To punish Evelyn.”
“And my baby isn’t Charles’s biological grandchild.”
Teresa looked at her.
“No.”
Mara’s anger sharpened.
“So Daniel and Evelyn tried to kill us for nothing.”
“No.”
Teresa’s voice was quiet.
Mara went still.
“What do you mean?”
Teresa swallowed.
“The trust does not say Charles’s biological grandchild.”
Hale had paraphrased it.
The actual language said: first biological descendant of the Cross paternal line born to a legally recognized heir.
Daniel, though not Charles’s son, was still a biological Cross because Samuel was Charles’s brother.
June was still the trigger.
Mara rubbed her temples.
“That family needs a diagram.”
Teresa laughed once, then winced at her ribs.
“Charles liked diagrams.”
“Where’s the original trust?”
“Not in the blue room.”
“Where?”
Teresa looked at the blue ribbon around Mara’s key.
“The key did not open Unit 214.”
Mara frowned. “It did.”
“It opened the old lock because June copied it.”
“So what does the original open?”
Teresa’s face tightened.
Before she could answer, a hospital administrator stepped into the room.
“Mara, there’s a problem with your daughter’s visitor log.”
Mara stood too fast.
“What problem?”
The administrator handed her a printout.
At 4:12 a.m., someone had entered the NICU using Daniel Cross’s biometric clearance.
May you like
Daniel was supposed to be missing.
