Chapter 9: The Woman Who Raised Me Wasn't Telling the Whole Truth
"Please forgive me for what?""
My mother's shoulders began shaking.
For the first time in my life, I looked at Linda and wondered whether I actually knew her.
She had been the woman who taught me to ride a bicycle.
The woman who stayed awake when I had fevers.
The woman who held my hand at my father's funeral.
And now she was apologizing for a secret involving my identity.
I stepped away from her.
"Mom, tell me what happened.""
She reached for my hand.
I didn't take it.
Martin quietly closed the office door.
Ethan and Vanessa stood near the wall, watching.
Even they seemed interested in what Linda was about to say.
My mother took a deep breath.
"Patricia gave birth to a little girl in 1992.""
I frowned.
"Rebecca?""
"No.""
She looked directly at me.
"Her name was Sarah.""
My heart began pounding.
I stared at her.
"What?""
"Patricia's first daughter was named Sarah. She was born in March 1992.""
I shook my head.
"That's impossible. I was born in March 1992.""
Mom nodded.
"Yes.""
The room seemed to disappear around me.
"Are you saying...""
"Patricia's baby was born three days before you.""
I couldn't breathe.
My mother continued.
"Patricia was unmarried. She had been hiding her pregnancy from most of the family. When she went into labor, she asked me to take her to the hospital.""
I stared at her.
"Why?""
"She was terrified her parents would find out.""
"And then?""
Mom closed her eyes.
"She gave birth to a healthy little girl. But the baby needed immediate medical attention. There were complications.""
My fingers curled.
"Where was I?""
"At another hospital.""
I looked up.
"What?""
"Your father had been with me. You were born that same week.""
My mother began crying.
"Your father and I had struggled to have a child for years. When Patricia's baby was born, she told me she couldn't raise her. She was overwhelmed, frightened, and alone.""
I shook my head.
"Mom, stop.""
She continued anyway.
"Your father arranged for the adoption to be handled privately.""
Martin suddenly interrupted.
"Linda, are you saying Sarah was adopted?""
My mother nodded.
"Yes.""
I felt the floor shift beneath me.
For twenty-eight years, I'd believed I was Robert and Linda Miller's biological daughter.
My father's eyes.
My mother's smile.
The family resemblance everyone mentioned.
Had it all been a lie?
I looked at the woman standing in front of me.
"Who are my biological parents?""
Linda whispered:
"Patricia is your biological mother.""
I stumbled backward.
Ethan looked stunned.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
And Martin immediately picked up his phone.
"Sarah, I need you to stay calm.""
I laughed.
"Stay calm? My entire life has just been turned upside down.""
My mother reached toward me.
"Your father loved you more than anything.""
I looked at her.
"Did he know?""
"Yes.""
"Did he know I wasn't his biological daughter?""
She nodded.
"From the beginning.""
My chest tightened.
"Then why didn't he tell me?""
"Because he was afraid you'd feel unwanted.""
I looked down at the photograph of my father holding Noah.
He had known.
He had known I wasn't biologically his.
Yet he had raised me.
Loved me.
And apparently spent the final years of his life protecting me from the truth.
I began crying.
"Was anything real?""
My mother stepped closer.
"Every single moment.""
I finally let her hold my hand.
But I wasn't ready to forgive her.
Not yet.
Daniel Price was still on the phone.
"Sarah, there's more.""
I wiped my cheeks.
"Go ahead.""
"Your father hired me because he suspected Patricia had switched certain hospital records.""
I looked up.
"Why would she do that?""
"Because there were two babies born within three days, and one of them was connected to a substantial inheritance.""
Martin leaned forward.
"Mr. Price, do you have evidence?""
"Yes. I have the original hospital discharge records, adoption paperwork, and a letter from the attending physician.""
I gripped the phone.
"Who was the other baby?""
The investigator hesitated.
"Rebecca's daughter.""
I stared.
"Wait. Rebecca was Patricia's daughter.""
"Correct.""
"Then who was Rebecca's daughter?""
"That's exactly what your father wanted to establish.""
My mother suddenly sat down.
I turned toward her.
"Mom?""
She looked terrified.
Daniel continued.
"According to the records, Patricia gave birth to two girls. One was placed for adoption. The other was raised under the name Rebecca.""
I felt sick.
"Are you saying Rebecca and I are sisters?""
"Possibly. But there is another complication.""
He paused.
"The original records suggest that one of the babies was not biologically related to Patricia.""
Martin stood.
"That's impossible.""
"Not according to the DNA evidence your father collected.""
I looked at the old report Emily had found.
The paternity test had excluded Robert.
But what if it hadn't been testing the right child?
I looked at the photograph of the little girl in the red dress.
Then at the birth certificate.
Then at my mother.
"Who am I?"" I whispered.
Linda began crying harder.
"I wanted to tell you.""
"When?""
"Your father asked me to wait until you were ready.""
I shook my head.
"Ready for what?""
She looked toward Martin.
"Patricia told me that the child I brought home wasn't the child who had been born to her.""
The words hit me like a physical blow.
"What?""
Mom nodded.
"She said there had been a mistake at the hospital. She said the baby had been switched.""
I felt my stomach turn.
"Then who did you bring home?""
"I don't know.""
Martin immediately called Daniel.
"Mr. Price, I need the name of the hospital.""
"St. Catherine's Medical Center.""
Martin froze.
I noticed his expression.
"What?""
He looked at me.
"Sarah, that hospital was closed fifteen years ago.""
"So?""
He swallowed.
"Your father's estate file contains a sealed medical record from that hospital.""
He opened his briefcase and pulled out a brown envelope.
My name was written across the front.
Underneath it was a sentence in my father's handwriting.
Open only when Sarah learns the truth about her birth.
I stared at the envelope.
My mother reached for it.
But Martin pulled it away.
"There's something you should know before we open this.""
He looked directly at me.
"The record lists a different biological father for the child registered as Sarah Miller.""
I swallowed.
"Who?""
Martin slowly turned the envelope over.
The signature beneath the seal belonged to a man whose name I had heard only once.
My father's older brother.
Uncle Michael.
The man my father had supposedly lost contact with decades earlier.
And the same man who had disappeared from the family just before I was born.
Then my phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
One message.
Sarah, don't let Martin open that envelope. Your father lied to you about everything. I am your real father, and I can prove it.
A second message arrived.
It contained a photograph of a man standing outside my childhood home.
Underneath it were five words:
Ask Linda who raised Rebecca.
I looked at my mother.
She recognized the man immediately.
And when she whispered his name, even Martin stepped backward.
"Daniel Collins.""
The biological father of Rebecca.
The man everyone had believed was dead.
May you like
But according to the photograph, he was very much alive.
And he was standing outside my house.
