Chapter 5: The Second Photograph
Marcus stared at Vanessa in the darkness.
“A second child?””
Vanessa didn't move.
The faint light from the hallway outlined her face, but it couldn't hide the fear in her eyes.
Marcus held the paternity envelope tightly.
“What do you mean, your father made us hide another child?””
Vanessa swallowed.
“I didn't say another child was his.””
“You said he made us hide one.””
“I said your father was involved.””
“That's not the same thing.””
“No.””
Her voice trembled.
“It isn't.””
Marcus stepped toward her.
“Then tell me exactly what happened.””
Vanessa looked at the envelope in his hand.
“You need to hear the whole story.””
“You've had eight years to tell me.””
“I know.””
“And you chose silence.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Vanessa looked down.
“Because I thought silence was the only thing keeping Zoe alive.””
Marcus froze.
“What does that mean?””
Before Vanessa could answer, a small sound came from behind the doorway.
“Daddy?””
Zoe.
Marcus immediately turned.
The little girl stood beside Grace, clutching her stuffed rabbit.
Grace looked at Vanessa.
“She followed me.””
Marcus walked over and crouched beside his daughter.
“You shouldn't be down here.””
“I heard shouting.””
“There isn't any shouting now.””
Zoe looked past him.
“Who is that?””
Marcus glanced back.
Vanessa was still standing in the doorway.
“My wife,” he said quietly.
Zoe looked at Vanessa for several seconds.
Then she whispered, “She looks scared.””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
Marcus stood.
“Take Zoe upstairs, Grace.””
Grace nodded.
“Come on, sweetheart.””
Zoe hesitated.
“Daddy?””
“I'll be right behind you.””
“You promise?””
Marcus looked directly into her eyes.
“I promise.””
Zoe left with Grace.
The moment they disappeared up the stairs, Marcus turned back to Vanessa.
“Now talk.””
Vanessa stepped into the hidden room.
She closed the steel door.
The click echoed.
Marcus stared at her.
“Why lock it?””
“Because this room has microphones.””
He frowned.
“What?””
Vanessa pointed toward the ceiling.
“Your father installed them.””
Marcus looked up.
Nothing was visible.
“You're saying he was recording us?””
“He recorded everyone.””
“Why?””
“Control.””
Vanessa walked toward the desk.
Her fingers ran along its edge.
“He wanted evidence. Leverage. Insurance. Whatever you want to call it.””
Marcus looked at the photographs covering the wall.
“And Zoe?””
“She was never supposed to know.””
“Know what?””
Vanessa sat down.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she looked up.
“Your father suspected you weren't Zoe's biological father.””
Marcus stared.
The words seemed impossible.
“He suspected?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because Zoe was conceived while you were separated.””
Marcus shook his head.
“No.””
“You remember the year.””
He did.
He remembered every miserable month.
He had been traveling constantly while the marriage was nearly broken.
He remembered sleeping in hotels.
He remembered the night Vanessa called and told him she was pregnant.
He remembered crying.
He remembered promising that whatever had happened between them, he would be a father.
Marcus looked at the floor.
“I never questioned it.””
“I know.””
“Did you?””
Vanessa hesitated.
“Yes.””
Marcus's voice went cold.
“Was she mine?””
Vanessa looked at him.
“That depends on what you mean.””
He laughed bitterly.
“Don't do that.””
“I don't know how to answer without telling you everything.””
“Start with the truth.””
Vanessa opened the red-marked envelope.
Inside was a laboratory report.
Marcus saw the first line.
*Parentage Analysis.*
His fingers went numb.
He read the names.
His own.
Zoe's.
He scanned down.
A conclusion sat near the bottom.
His heart pounded.
“Why didn't you show me this?””
Vanessa looked away.
“Because your father had it first.””
Marcus looked up.
“When?””
“Before Zoe was born.””
“That isn't possible.””
“It is.””
She pointed to the date.
Marcus checked again.
The test had been ordered months before Zoe's birth.
Someone had collected biological samples from him.
Without telling him.
“How?””
“I don't know.””
Marcus looked at Vanessa.
“You're lying.””
“No.””
“My father couldn't have obtained my DNA without me knowing.””
“He could if it came from your doctor's office.””
Marcus froze.
“What?””
Vanessa nodded.
“Your father owned the medical practice that handled the company's executives.””
Marcus remembered.
The company had switched providers that year.
His father's recommendation.
He had never questioned it.
Marcus looked at the report again.
“What does it say?””
Vanessa's voice was almost inaudible.
“It says you are not Zoe's biological father.””
Silence.
Marcus stared at the paper.
The room seemed to become smaller.
All the sounds upstairs disappeared.
His daughter's laugh.
The kitchen refrigerator.
The distant clock.
Everything vanished.
“No.””
Vanessa began to cry.
“Marcus…”
“No.””
He shook his head.
“This could be fake.””
“It isn't.””
“You said my father had it.””
“He did.””
“You said he knew.””
“Yes.””
“Then why did he let me raise her?””
Vanessa looked at him.
“Because he wanted you to.””
Marcus frowned.
“Why?””
“Because he believed Zoe needed your name.””
“That doesn't make sense.””
“It will.””
She reached for the second photograph she had been holding.
She placed it on the desk.
Marcus looked down.
A newborn baby.
Wrapped in a white blanket.
A hospital bracelet around one tiny wrist.
He picked up the photograph.
On the bracelet was a name.
*LENA.*
Underneath it was a date.
The date Zoe was born.
Marcus's eyes widened.
“Who is Lena?””
Vanessa looked at him.
“Your father told me she was supposed to be Zoe.””
Marcus stared.
“What?””
“She was born first.””
He said nothing.
“Two babies were delivered that night,” Vanessa continued.
“One of them was Zoe.””
“And Lena?””
Vanessa's face crumpled.
“She was taken.””
Marcus's blood ran cold.
“Taken where?””
“I don't know.””
“You expect me to believe my father stole a baby from a hospital?””
“I saw the records.””
“Then where are they?””
“Your father destroyed them.””
Marcus slammed his hand onto the desk.
“Why would anyone do this?””
Vanessa flinched.
“Because Lena was the wrong baby.””
“What does that mean?””
Vanessa wiped her eyes.
“It means your father believed there was a mistake.””
Marcus stared.
“A hospital mistake?””
“No.””
“What mistake?””
Vanessa took a breath.
“Your father thought Lena was supposed to be the daughter of another family.””
Marcus felt sick.
“Whose?””
“I don't know.””
“Vanessa.””
“I never met them.””
“You're telling me my father had another newborn moved out of a hospital?””
“Yes.””
“And you helped?””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“I signed the papers.””
Marcus recoiled.
“You signed them?””
“He forced me.””
“You said that before.””
“Because it's true.””
“You always had a choice.””
Vanessa looked at him.
“No.””
“What do you mean?””
“My brother.””
Marcus stopped.
“What about him?””
Vanessa's lips trembled.
“Your father knew about the debts.””
Marcus frowned.
“What debts?””
“He owned them.””
“That doesn't answer me.””
“He had my brother's loan.””
Marcus stared.
“He threatened to ruin him.””
Vanessa looked down.
“He said if I didn't cooperate, my brother would lose his business, his house, everything.””
Marcus's voice dropped.
“So you helped him.””
“Yes.””
“And Zoe?””
“I thought she was the baby he chose to keep.””
Marcus stared at her.
“Chosen?””
Vanessa nodded.
“Your father said she was the only one who could be raised as a Cole.””
He looked again at the photograph of Lena.
“She was your granddaughter?””
“No.””
“What?””
Vanessa's expression changed.
“Your father didn't know which child was biologically yours.””
Marcus went still.
“He didn't?””
“No.””
“Then why did he separate them?””
“Because he thought the wrong family had been given the wrong baby.””
Marcus looked at the paternity report.
Then at Lena's photograph.
Then at Vanessa.
“How could he know?””
Vanessa whispered, “There was another test.””
“Where?””
“Your father's private laboratory.””
“Do you have it?””
Vanessa shook her head.
“Not here.””
“Where?””
“I thought it was destroyed.””
Marcus stared at her.
“Thought?””
She hesitated.
“Last month, someone contacted me.””
“Who?””
“I don't know.””
“What did they want?””
“They asked if I still remembered the basement.””
Marcus stepped closer.
“What did you tell them?””
“I said yes.””
“And?””
“They said the second child was still alive.””
Marcus stopped breathing.
The words barely registered.
“Alive?””
Vanessa nodded.
“I didn't believe them.””
“Why?””
“Because your father told me Lena died.””
Marcus looked at the photograph.
A newborn face.
Tiny.
Unaware.
He whispered, “Did you see a death certificate?””
“No.””
“Did you see a body?””
“No.””
“Then you don't know.””
Vanessa's eyes filled again.
“No.””
Marcus turned away.
All those years.
All the photographs.
All the secrets.
And now a missing child who had disappeared on the exact night Zoe was born.
His phone buzzed.
He pulled it out.
Unknown number.
A message appeared.
*You finally found the photograph.*
Marcus's heart began pounding.
Another message arrived.
*Now look behind the frame.*
He turned toward the wall.
There was a large photograph of his father standing beside a much younger Marcus.
Marcus crossed the room.
He pulled the frame down.
A small envelope had been taped behind it.
His name was written across the front.
*For Marcus — only after you discover Lena.*
Marcus tore it open.
Inside was one handwritten page.
He recognized his father's signature at the bottom.
He read the first sentence.
Then his face went completely white.
*Marcus, I lied about which baby was yours.*
He looked at Vanessa.
She couldn't breathe.
Marcus continued reading.
May you like
The next line was worse.
*And if you're reading this, then Lena has already found you.*
