Chương 5
The woman's eyes moved from Claire to Ethan.
Then they filled with tears.
"My name is Rachel."
Daniel looked at her carefully.
"Rachel?"
The woman nodded.
"Rachel Collins."
Daniel's expression changed.
He recognized the name.
"Emily's nurse."
Rachel looked down.
"Yes."
Margaret stood slowly from the chair.
Her face had lost all color.
"You came back."
Rachel looked at her.
"I had to."
Claire looked between them.
"Everyone seems to know each other except me."
Her voice carried anger and pain.
"What is happening to my family?"
Rachel stepped inside and closed the door behind her.
"I know this is difficult."
Claire laughed softly, but there was no happiness in it.
"Difficult?"
She pointed toward Ethan.
"My son is standing here while strangers talk about him like he is a missing piece of evidence."
Rachel lowered her eyes.
"You are right."
She held the folder tighter.
"He deserves the truth."
Ethan looked at the woman.
"Do you know me?"
Rachel swallowed.
"I knew you before anyone knew what your life would become."
The words frightened him.
Claire immediately reached for his hand.
"Stay away from him."
Rachel stopped.
"I understand why you feel that way."
"No, you don't."
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
"You have no idea what it feels like to hear people say they knew your child before you did."
Rachel nodded sadly.
"Actually, I do."
The room went quiet.
Rachel opened the folder.
Inside were medical documents, photographs, and handwritten notes.
"I was the night nurse assigned to the maternity floor twenty-nine years ago."
Daniel looked confused.
"Twenty-nine?"
Rachel nodded.
"Because the records were altered before anyone realized the truth."
She placed a document on the table.
"This was the original admission report."
Daniel picked it up.
His eyes moved quickly across the page.
Margaret stepped closer.
"What does it say?"
Daniel looked at her.
"It says Emily was admitted at 11:42 p.m."
Rachel nodded.
"And Claire was admitted twelve minutes later."
Claire looked at her.
"So?"
Rachel took a deep breath.
"The problem is that the records showing the babies' births were changed afterward."
Claire felt a chill.
"Changed by who?"
Rachel looked at Margaret.
Nobody spoke.
Margaret whispered.
"I don't know."
Rachel's expression softened.
"But you know why."
Margaret looked away.
The silence answered again.
Claire felt betrayed all over.
"Mom."
Margaret finally looked at her.
"I was scared."
"That is not an answer."
"I was scared because someone came to me after the delivery."
Daniel stepped forward.
"Who?"
Margaret's voice shook.
"The hospital administrator."
Rachel nodded.
"I remember him."
Claire stared.
"What did he want?"
Margaret looked at Ethan.
"He told me there had been a dangerous mistake."
Claire held her breath.
"He said one of the babies was at risk."
Daniel looked confused.
"Why would a baby be at risk?"
Margaret closed her eyes.
"Because the baby was evidence."
The word changed the entire room.
"Evidence of what?" Claire asked.
Rachel answered quietly.
"Of a crime."
Nobody moved.
The rain outside continued falling.
Ethan looked at the adults.
He could feel the fear growing.
"What crime?"
Claire immediately looked at him.
"Ethan..."
But the boy did not look away.
"I want to know."
His voice was still young, but there was strength in it.
For the first time that night, everyone stopped protecting him from the truth.
Rachel looked at him with sadness.
"You were born during a time when the hospital was being investigated."
"Investigated for what?"
Rachel opened another document.
"Illegal adoption arrangements."
Claire's face went pale.
Daniel whispered.
"No."
Rachel nodded.
"Someone inside the hospital was moving babies between families."
The kitchen became silent.
Margaret covered her mouth.
"I never knew that was happening."
Rachel looked at her.
"You knew something was wrong."
Margaret looked down.
"Yes."
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
"And you still kept quiet."
Margaret nodded.
"I thought I was saving Ethan."
Claire shook her head.
"You should have trusted me."
Margaret cried.
"I was afraid they would take him."
Daniel looked at Rachel.
"Are you saying Ethan was one of those babies?"
Rachel hesitated.
"No."
Everyone looked at her.
"No?"
Rachel shook her head.
"That is the part nobody understood."
She looked at Ethan.
"He was not taken."
Claire breathed again.
"Then what happened?"
Rachel looked at the documents.
"Ethan was placed with Claire because someone believed it was the safest place for him."
Claire stared.
"Someone believed?"
Rachel nodded.
"Your mother was not the person who caused this."
Margaret looked surprised.
"Then who?"
Rachel looked toward the hallway.
"Someone who knew exactly how much a child could change a family."
Daniel's face hardened.
"Who?"
Rachel did not answer immediately.
She pulled out an old photograph.
It showed several hospital employees standing together.
One person in the picture had been circled with a pen.
Claire leaned closer.
Her eyes widened.
"That's..."
She stopped.
Daniel looked at her.
"Who is it?"
Claire's hand covered her mouth.
"I know him."
Rachel nodded.
"Everyone did."
The photograph showed a man standing behind the hospital staff.
A man with a calm smile.
A man who had been trusted by everyone.
"The hospital administrator," Rachel said.
Margaret whispered.
"Thomas."
Daniel looked shocked.
"Thomas Reed?"
Rachel nodded.
"He was the person who controlled the records."
Claire stared at the picture.
"But he died years ago."
Rachel looked at her.
"Yes."
Daniel picked up the photograph.
"Then how could he have continued this?"
Rachel looked at the folder.
"Because someone helped him."
Nobody spoke.
Claire felt her stomach tighten.
"Who?"
Rachel slowly turned toward Margaret.
The older woman's expression changed instantly.
"No."
Daniel noticed.
"Margaret."
"I said no."
Claire looked at her mother.
"Who helped him?"
Margaret's hands began shaking.
For years, she had carried the secret alone.
But now the truth was standing in front of everyone.
"I thought I buried this forever."
Rachel whispered.
"But secrets do not disappear."
Margaret looked at Ethan.
"I need you to understand something."
Ethan waited.
"You were never unwanted."
May you like
His eyes softened.
"You were never a mistake."
