Chapter 2 - The Nurse Revealed That My “Dead” Daughter Had Been Taken From the Hospital—And Adrian Finally Admitted He Had Been Lying to MeThe nurse's name was Margaret Hale.
She had worked at St. Vincent's Medical Center for thirty-eight years.
She had delivered babies for politicians, criminals, billionaires, and ordinary families who couldn't afford private rooms.
She had seen children survive impossible circumstances.
She had also seen powerful people make terrible things disappear.
I stared at her.
“My daughter is alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don't know exactly.”
“You don't know?”
Margaret shook her head.
“I was never allowed to see where they took her.”
“Who took her?”
She looked at Adrian.
“He knew.”
I turned.
Adrian's face was like stone.
“You knew?”
“Not everything.”
“You knew my daughter was alive?”
“I learned yesterday.”
I couldn't stop shaking.
“You learned yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you tell me Grace was dead?”
“I believed she was.”
“You said you didn't know.”
“I didn't.”
I stepped toward him.
“Then explain.”
He looked at Margaret.
“Tell her.”
Margaret swallowed.
“Two babies arrived in the neonatal unit that night.”
She explained.
One was Grace.
The other was a premature boy named Gabriel.
Gabriel's mother had died during delivery.
Her name was unknown.
The hospital records had been altered.
A doctor had been paid to switch identification bands.
The babies were moved.
Grace was recorded as dead.
Gabriel was recorded as surviving.
But the baby identified as Gabriel was actually Grace.
Margaret had discovered the error.
She tried to correct it.
Then someone threatened her.
“Who?”
“Adrian's father.”
I stared at Adrian.
His father had been dead for ten years.
“What did he want?”
“Grace.”
“Why?”
Margaret looked at Lucas.
“Because your daughter was valuable.”
My stomach twisted.
“Why?”
“Because of her blood.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“What does that mean?”
Margaret pulled a medical file from her coat.
“Grace was born with a rare genetic condition.”
I froze.
“She had a mutation affecting how her liver processed certain compounds.”
Adrian took the file.
“What compound?”
Margaret looked at him.
“The same family of toxins found in Hannah's water.”
Silence.
My skin went cold.
Someone wasn't simply trying to kill me.
They were trying to test whether my body would react like Grace's.
I remembered Adrian saying:
“They think you are something.”
They hadn't been trying to kill me because I was Adrian's wife.
They had been testing a theory.
A theory connected to my daughter.
“Why would they need my response?”
Margaret answered.
“Because whoever has Grace wants to know whether the medication protecting her is still effective.”
Adrian looked at her.
“Where is my daughter?”
Margaret hesitated.
“An organization called Meridian Medical owns the facility.”
I stared.
“Medical?”
“Officially.”
“Unofficially?”
“Private human research.”
Adrian's face went cold.
“Who funded it?”
Margaret looked at him.
“Your father.”
He stepped backward.
“My father was dead before Meridian existed.”
“Not according to the records.”
I looked at Adrian.
“Your father was alive after his supposed death?”
He closed his eyes.
“I suspected.”
The room was silent.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I wasn't certain.”
“You let me grieve my daughter for nearly two years.”
His expression cracked.
“I thought she was dead.”
“Then why did you say you learned yesterday?”
“Because yesterday I found evidence that she had survived.”
I felt tears burning my eyes.
“And you didn't tell me.”
“I needed to know where she was before I gave you hope.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You don't get to decide whether I deserve hope.”
He looked at me.
“I know.”
That was the first time I'd ever seen Adrian look defeated.
Not angry.
Not powerful.
Defeated.
Then Margaret reached for my hand.
“There is more.”
I looked at her.
“Grace wasn't the only baby moved that night.”
“What?”
Margaret's eyes traveled toward Lucas.
“His identity was also changed.”
My blood turned cold.
“No.”
“Lucas is not registered under his original birth name.”
Adrian looked at her.
“What was his original name?”
Margaret whispered:
“Daniel.”
I looked down at my son.
He stirred.
Daniel.
The name felt strangely familiar.
Then I remembered Elena.
Her last words to Adrian, according to the story he told me.
She had supposedly whispered:
“Protect our son.”
But if Lucas's name had been changed—
maybe Elena had been trying to protect him from the beginning.
Margaret took a small envelope from her pocket.
Inside was a birth certificate.
I looked at it.
The father's name:
Adrian Mercer.
The mother's name:
Elena Russo.
The child's name:
Daniel Mercer.
I stared.
Lucas was Daniel.
He had been renamed after Elena's death.
“Why?”
May you like
Margaret whispered:
“Because the people who stole Grace were looking for Daniel too.”
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