Chương 3
For years, he had thought it was just a strange old thing.
Now it felt like a piece of a puzzle he never knew existed.
"Are you saying..." Claire whispered.
She could barely finish the sentence.
Daniel answered softly.
"That there are things about Ethan's birth that nobody has explained."
Claire immediately pulled Ethan closer.
"No."
Her voice became stronger.
"No one is taking my son away from me."
Daniel looked shocked.
"I never said that."
"But you are talking like he belongs to someone else."
Daniel shook his head.
"I am saying a child deserves to know where he came from."
Margaret covered her face with her hands.
"I thought I was protecting everyone."
Claire turned toward her.
"You were protecting yourself."
The words hurt Margaret.
Because deep down, she knew they were true.
"I was afraid," Margaret admitted.
"After everything happened, I was afraid of losing another person I loved."
Claire stared at her.
"What exactly happened?"
Margaret looked at Daniel.
Then at the letter.
Then finally at Ethan.
"The hospital made a mistake that night."
Her voice cracked.
"They mixed up two records."
Claire's expression changed.
"Records?"
Margaret nodded.
"They believed two babies belonged to different families."
Daniel continued.
"And by the time anyone realized there was a problem, one child had already gone home."
Ethan looked at Claire.
"Mom?"
Claire immediately knelt beside him.
"I'm here."
"Am I still your son?"
The question broke something inside the room.
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
She touched his face gently.
"You will always be my son."
Ethan looked at Daniel.
"But why does everyone look so sad?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Because there was no simple answer.
Because the truth was bigger than one family.
It was made of years of silence, impossible choices, and people who believed they were protecting each other.
Daniel slowly put his phone on the table.
"I didn't come here to take anything from you."
Claire looked at him.
"Then why did you come?"
Daniel took a breath.
"Because yesterday, I received a message from someone who found the missing hospital records."
Margaret looked up suddenly.
"What message?"
Daniel's face became serious.
"The records showed something nobody expected."
Claire held Ethan's hand tighter.
"What?"
Daniel looked toward the old wooden box.
"The mistake wasn't the only secret."
The rain outside grew louder.
Margaret stood up quickly.
"No."
Daniel looked at her.
"You knew?"
Her silence answered him.
Claire noticed.
"Mom?"
Margaret looked terrified.
For the first time that night, she did not look like someone hiding a painful memory.
She looked like someone afraid of what was coming next.
"There was one more thing about that night," Margaret whispered.
Ethan looked at her.
"What thing?"
Margaret reached for the letter with trembling hands.
And before she could open it, the phone on the table suddenly rang.
Everyone froze.
The screen showed an unknown number.
Daniel stared at it.
Then his face turned pale.
"That's impossible."
Claire looked at him.
"Who is it?"
Daniel did not answer.
The phone continued ringing.
Finally, he picked it up.
A voice came through the speaker.
A voice none of them expected to hear.
"Daniel?"
His expression changed instantly.
The room went completely silent.
Because the voice belonged to someone who was supposed to be gone forever.
Continue the story with the next segment when you are ready.
The voice belonged to someone who was supposed to be gone forever.
Daniel's hand tightened around the phone as the color drained from his face.
Nobody in the kitchen moved.
Nobody even seemed to breathe.
"Daniel?" the voice repeated.
It was older than he remembered, weaker than he remembered, but impossible to mistake.
Daniel slowly sat down in the nearest chair.
His eyes filled with disbelief.
"Emily?"
The name came out like a prayer.
Claire looked at Margaret.
Margaret looked away.
And in that moment, Claire realized her mother had been afraid of this exact moment.
"Who is Emily?" Claire whispered.
Daniel covered the phone with his hand.
His expression was broken between hope and fear.
"She is my sister."
The room became silent again.
Claire stared at Margaret.
"You told me she died."
Margaret's lips trembled.
"I thought she did."
Daniel looked at her sharply.
"You thought?"
Margaret closed her eyes.
"There are things I never understood."
The voice on the phone spoke again.
"Daniel, are you there?"
Daniel uncovered the microphone.
"Emily, where are you?"
A long pause followed.
The kind of pause that carried years of pain.
"I have been trying to reach you for a long time."
Daniel stood slowly.
"Why didn't you?"
The voice became emotional.
"Because I didn't know if I was allowed to come back."
Claire felt Ethan's fingers wrap around hers.
The boy looked frightened by the sadness surrounding him.
She lowered herself beside him.
"It's okay," she whispered.
But even she did not believe those words.
Daniel walked toward the window.
"Emily, what happened?"
The voice on the phone shook.
"I need you to listen carefully."
Everyone watched him.
"There was never a mistake with the babies."
Daniel froze.
"What?"
Margaret's face changed.
"No."
The word escaped her before she could stop it.
Daniel turned around.
"You knew?"
Margaret looked terrified.
"I knew something was wrong."
Claire stood up.
"Mom, what are you not telling us?"
Margaret looked at her daughter.
Then at Ethan.
Then at the phone.
"I was told to stay quiet."
Daniel's grip tightened.
"Who told you?"
Margaret did not answer.
That silence was enough.
Claire stepped back.
"Mom."
Her voice was full of disbelief.
"Who told you?"
Margaret finally spoke.
"The hospital administrator."
Daniel stared at her.
"Why would a hospital administrator tell you to hide something about my sister?"
Margaret looked down.
"Because they were afraid of what would happen if the truth came out."
The voice on the phone interrupted.
"Mom?"
Daniel stopped.
Everyone heard the word.
The kitchen became completely still.
Claire looked at Margaret.
Her face turned pale.
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"Mom?"
Daniel slowly brought the phone closer.
