Chapter 2 - THE BRACELET
The hospital bracelet carried a real registration number.
Dr. Reed verified it through County General.
A delivery file existed under my name.
Scheduled cesarean section.
Tomorrow morning.
The surgeon listed was not Dr. Reed.
The consent form carried my signature.
I had never signed it.
The man who entered the apartment introduced himself as Samuel Walker.
Victor’s biological father.
Raul was his uncle.
The family had switched their identities after Samuel disappeared during a federal investigation into Walker Medical Holdings.
Samuel said the unborn child was tied to a family trust that transferred controlling shares to the first grandchild born with a specific genetic marker.
The hospital file had been created because Helena planned to force an early delivery.
Victor’s assault was not random rage.
He believed I was hiding the prenatal test proving the baby carried the marker.
The message I sent contained the test.
Victor wanted it destroyed.
Nora had helped me duplicate it.
Then Dr. Reed found a second bruise beneath my ribs.
Older.
Different shape.
He looked at Victor.
“This wasn’t the first time.”
Victor said nothing.
The police took him into custody.
Helena screamed that the family was being robbed.
Raul tried to leave through the kitchen.
The black key fell from his pocket.
Evelyn recognized it.
“The nursery vault.”
The apartment building had no nursery.
May you like
At least, not one I knew about.
Read Chapter 3 to discover what was hidden behind the locked basement door.
