Chapter 2 - The Second Heartbeat Had Been Erased From Sophia’s Records—And the Baby Everyone Called Stillborn Was MissingBy morning, Suite 404 had become a fortress.
Two guards stood outside the room.
Three more watched the elevator.
Nobody entered without clearance.
Sophia remained unconscious.
Leonardo was stable.
But the message on the wall had changed everything.
Dominic hadn't slept.
Neither had I.
At 6:00 a.m., he found me in the hallway.
“You said there was another baby.”
“I said there might have been.”
“I want certainty.”
“So do I.”
He handed me a file.
“Medical records.”
I opened them.
The official record stated:
Single male birth. Leonardo Moretti.
Nothing else.
But I remembered the monitors.
Two heartbeats.
I was sure.
I turned to Dominic.
“I want the original fetal monitoring printouts.”
“Why?”
“Because records can be changed.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You think someone changed your sister's chart?”
“I think someone changed something.”
He looked at his security chief.
“Find them.”
Two hours later, we found the original printouts.
There had been two fetal heart rates.
One male.
One unknown.
Then, forty-three minutes before delivery—
the second line disappeared.
No explanation.
No note.
No fetal demise record.
No stillbirth documentation.
Nothing.
I stared at the paper.
“This is impossible.”
Dominic looked over my shoulder.
“What does it mean?”
“It means somebody erased a baby.”
His face became expressionless.
“What happened to Sophia?”
“She may have been given information that wasn't true.”
“You mean she believes she lost the baby?”
“Yes.”
Dominic looked toward his sister.
Her eyes were closed.
Her face was pale.
He whispered,
“She doesn't know.”
“No.”
“What do we do?”
“Find the baby.”
He looked at me.
“You're coming.”
“Where?”
“To the nursery.”
The neonatal archives were restricted.
We reviewed every admission.
Every discharge.
Every transport.
One record was missing.
A female newborn.
Delivered three hours before Leonardo.
Marked as transferred.
Transferred where?
There was no destination.
No physician signature.
Nothing.
I felt cold.
“Someone took her.”
Dominic nodded.
“Who?”
I shook my head.
“Not yet.”
A nurse named Evelyn approached.
She looked terrified.
“I remember.”
We turned.
“Remember what?”
“The second baby.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“You saw her?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Evelyn swallowed.
“She was alive.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“She was crying.”
“Where did they take her?”
“I don't know.”
“Who took her?”
Evelyn looked at Dominic.
Then at me.
“Dr. Victor Harlan.”
I recognized the name.
Chief of obstetrics.
Respected.
Donor.
Board member.
One of the physicians in Suite 404.
Dominic's expression changed.
“Where is he?”
“Gone.”
“When?”
“An hour ago.”
His security chief checked his phone.
“He left the hospital.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“Find him.”
We spent the next six hours searching.
Nothing.
Until a photo arrived.
A baby.
Alive.
Wrapped in a white blanket.
The message beneath it read:
You found the truth. Now stop looking.
Dominic crushed the phone in his hand.
I touched his wrist.
“Don't.”
He looked at me.
“I am going to find her.”
“I know.”
“And anyone who touched her…”
He stopped.
I didn't need him to finish.
That afternoon, Sophia woke.
Dominic sat beside her.
I stood outside.
Her voice was weak.
“Where's my baby?”
Dominic froze.
“Leo?”
She shook her head.
“The other one.”
Silence.
Dominic looked at me through the glass.
I entered.
Sophia stared at me.
“Who are you?”
“I'm Claire.”
“You're the nurse.”
“Yes.”
She looked at Dominic.
“Why does everyone look frightened?”
Dominic sat beside her.
“Sophia…”
“No.”
Her eyes widened.
“I heard two heartbeats.”
My heart stopped.
“You remember?”
She nodded.
“I dreamed someone took her.”
Dominic took her hand.
“You had a daughter.”
Sophia started crying.
“A girl?”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
“We don't know yet.”
Her grief was immediate.
She tried to sit up.
“No.”
I helped stabilize her.
“We'll find her.”
Dominic looked at me.
He didn't question it.
He believed me.
That night, we discovered something else.
A payment.
Dr. Harlan had received ten million dollars from an offshore account three days before Sophia's delivery.
The sender?
Moretti Family Holdings.
I stared.
“Dominic.”
He looked.
“I didn't pay him.”
“Then who did?”
His face hardened.
“My father.”
“Your father is dead.”
“Yes.”
“So?”
He didn't answer.
Instead, he made one phone call.
A man answered.
Dominic said,
“Find out who still controls my father's old accounts.”
A pause.
Then:
“Someone has been moving money.”
“How much?”
“Twenty million.”
“Where?”
“Switzerland.”
Dominic hung up.
I looked at him.
“What does this have to do with Sophia's daughter?”
He looked at me.
“Everything.”
The next morning, Dr. Harlan was found dead.
The official report called it suicide.
I didn't believe it.
Neither did Dominic.
Because the doctor had left a note.
Four words.
The baby is alive.
And beneath them—
one name.
Mara.
Dominic looked at me.
“Mara?”
I nodded.
“Maybe that's the baby's name.”
He stared at the note.
“Or someone's.”
I felt a chill.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A woman's voice whispered,
“Stop helping him.”
“Who is this?”
“If Dominic finds the girl, he'll never survive what comes next.”
The line went dead.
I looked at Dominic.
He had heard enough.
“What did she say?”
I swallowed.
“She said if you find the baby, you won't survive.”
His expression didn't change.
“Then we'll find her before they stop us.”
And for the first time, I realized the threat was no longer aimed at the family.
It was aimed at Dominic.
May you like
And somehow—
at me.
Related Stories
