Chapter 7 - THE DAUGHTER WHO WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO EXIST
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Clare couldn't speak.
She read the document again and again, hoping the words would change.
They didn't.
"That's not my name," she whispered.
Dante moved closer.
"Clare."
"I had Maya three years ago. I wasn't pregnant six months ago."
"I know."
"Then why is my name on that record?"
Marco examined the paperwork.
"The document may have been created using stolen identity information."
Clare shook her head.
"Richard knew everything about me. My medical history. My employment records. Every place I worked."
Dante's expression hardened.
"He may have used your identity to hide the real mother's name."
Clare looked toward Maya's room.
Her daughter was playing with Rosa.
"Does this have anything to do with Maya?"
Nobody answered.
That silence frightened her more than the document.
Dante immediately ordered a confidential investigation.
He also arranged for independent DNA testing involving Leo and himself.
The tests would establish whether the baby was biologically his.
Clare insisted that she wanted no part of a conspiracy involving switched infants.
But she couldn't ignore the possibility that someone had used her identity.
That night, Maya woke crying.
Clare rushed into her room.
"What's wrong, sweetheart?"
Maya pointed toward the hallway.
"Bad man."
Clare froze.
"What bad man?"
"Man outside."
She moved toward the window.
A shadow disappeared behind the garden wall.
Clare grabbed Maya and pulled her away.
Moments later, the security alarm sounded.
Marco rushed into the suite.
"Stay inside!"
Dante appeared behind him.
"What's happening?"
"Someone entered the east garden."
Dante handed Maya to Rosa.
Then he followed Marco outside.
Clare wanted to stop him.
Instead, she locked the door and held her daughter close.
Five minutes later, a guard brought back a small object found near the garden wall.
A silver bracelet.
Clare recognized it immediately.
It had belonged to Richard.
Dante examined the engraving.
R.J. — FOREVER YOURS.
Clare felt sick.
"He's here."
Dante looked at Marco.
"Increase the perimeter."
But Marco was already looking at his phone.
"Sir, we've got another problem."
"What?"
"The DNA laboratory has been compromised."
Dante's eyes narrowed.
"How?"
"Someone accessed the sample records."
"Was anything taken?"
"Yes. Leo's original sample."
Clare stared at him.
"Does that mean they know we're testing him?"
"Yes," Marco replied.
The following morning, Dr. Ricci called.
She had received an anonymous package.
Inside was a photograph of Alessia holding a newborn baby.
On the back was a date.
And a message.
THE CHILD IN THE PHOTOGRAPH IS NOT THE CHILD IN THE CRIB.
Dante drove immediately to the hospital.
Clare insisted on accompanying him.
When they arrived, Dr. Ricci showed them the photograph.
Alessia was holding a baby wrapped in a pale blue blanket.
A small birthmark was visible behind the child's left ear.
Dante stared.
Leo had the same birthmark.
But the baby in the photograph had something else.
A thin red thread tied around his wrist.
Clare leaned closer.
"That's a hospital identification bracelet."
Dr. Ricci nodded.
"I enlarged the image."
The bracelet carried a number.
She compared it with the original hospital records.
It belonged to a newborn registered under another name.
A child who had supposedly died shortly after birth.
Dante gripped the desk.
"Who?"
Dr. Ricci looked at him.
"His name was Matteo."
"Where is he now?"
"We don't know."
Clare studied the photograph again.
Then she noticed the woman standing in the background.
A nurse.
She recognized her.
Not from Italy.
From Ohio.
It was Vanessa Cole.
Clare pointed.
"That's her."
Dante looked closer.
The woman was holding a clipboard.
On the bottom corner was a hospital logo.
The logo belonged to the private clinic where Clare had worked before leaving nursing.
Clare felt a terrible realization forming.
Vanessa hadn't simply used her identity.
She had been connected to her life long before the flight.
Then Dr. Ricci received another call.
She answered.
Her expression slowly collapsed.
"What happened?" Dante demanded.
She ended the call.
"Vanessa has disappeared from custody."
Marco immediately reached for his weapon.
"How?"
"Someone authorized her transfer."
"Who signed it?"
Dr. Ricci looked at the paperwork.
May you like
Then she whispered:
"Richard Jensen."
