Chapter 11 - The Baby Switch
Rachel slapped Dunn.
The sound echoed down the hospital corridor.
Daniel grabbed her before she could do it again.
“Don’t touch me!”
Dunn rubbed his cheek.
“I deserved that.”
“What are you saying?” Rachel demanded.
“I’m saying there was a switch at St. Vincent’s.”
“No.”
“Rachel—”
“No.”
“Sophie was born during a power failure. Three infants were moved from the nursery.”
Rachel remembered the storm.
The generator failing.
Nurses rushing.
Her daughter being brought back hours later.
“You’re lying.”
“I wish I was.”
Daniel stared at him.
“Lily?”
Dunn shook his head.
“This was years before Lily.”
Rachel’s knees weakened.
“Claire had a baby that night?”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
Dunn looked at Sophie.
“I don’t know.”
Rachel turned away, pressing a hand over her mouth.
Sophie was at the vending machines with a nurse, thankfully out of earshot.
Daniel whispered, “Does Claire believe Sophie is hers?”
Dunn nodded.
“Claire believed someone at Arden arranged the switch.”
“Why?”
“Because the infant records connected to Lang’s private medical foundation disappeared the next day.”
Rachel spun around.
“What does Victor Lang have to do with babies?”
Dunn’s face tightened.
“That’s what Claire was trying to prove.”
A nurse approached.
“Mrs. Hale? Margaret is awake.”
Rachel entered Margaret’s room alone.
The older woman looked small beneath the hospital blanket.
Rachel placed the hospital tags on the table.
“Tell me everything.”
Margaret stared at them.
“Claire had a daughter the same night Sophie was born.”
“Was Sophie switched?”
“I don’t know.”
“Dunn says Claire thought so.”
“She did.”
“Did you?”
Margaret’s eyes filled with tears.
“I helped her get a DNA test.”
Rachel stopped breathing.
“And?”
Margaret looked toward the door.
“The results were stolen before Claire could see them.”
Rachel almost screamed.
“So nobody knows?”
Margaret’s voice dropped.
“Claire found another way.”
“What way?”
“She took samples from both girls.”
“Both girls?”
Margaret nodded.
“Your Sophie.”
Rachel leaned closer.
“And Claire’s baby?”
Margaret began to cry.
“The child Claire brought home from the hospital grew up too.”
Rachel felt dread before the name arrived.
Margaret whispered:
“Her name was Maya.”
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