Chapter 10 - THE FIFTH CHILD
The words from my investigator kept repeating in my mind.
Five births.
Four names.
One missing child.
For years, I believed my family’s secrets began with Mara.
I was wrong.
The truth started much earlier.
Before the engagement.
Before the lies.
Before the four boys.
My family had been hiding something for decades.
And now that secret was finally coming back.
I sat across from Mara in my apartment.
Neither of us spoke for several minutes.
The boys were playing in the living room.
Laughing.
Completely unaware that their entire existence had been part of a battle between powerful adults.
Mara looked at me.
“Do you believe her?”
I knew who she meant.
My mother.
“No.”
“But?”
I looked toward the children.
“But I believe she knows something.”
Mara nodded slowly.
“She always did.”
“She knew about our children.”
“She knew about your father.”
“She knew about Elias.”
“And now she knows about another child.”
The room felt heavier.
I picked up the old hospital records my investigator sent.
The documents were incomplete.
Pages missing.
Names removed.
But one detail remained.
The date.
The exact night my life changed forever.
Six years ago.
The night Mara gave birth.
The night she disappeared.
The night my mother took control.
“I want to go back to the hospital.”
Mara looked surprised.
“Why?”
“Because someone there knows what happened.”
“You think after six years they’ll tell you?”
“No.”
“I think someone will try to stop me.”
Her expression changed.
“Adrian.”
“That’s why we need to go.”
The next morning, we returned to the old hospital.
The same building where everything began.
Walking through those halls felt like walking through my own forgotten memories.
Every corner carried a piece of a story I never knew.
A nurse at the front desk recognized Mara.
Her expression changed instantly.
“Mara?”
Mara stopped.
“You remember me?”
The nurse looked nervous.
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
The woman glanced around.
Then lowered her voice.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
My heart tightened.
“Why?”
“Because some people don’t want old stories reopened.”
I stepped forward.
“Who?”
She looked at me.
And immediately became afraid.
“Your family.”
The nurse led us to a small storage room.
Inside was an old box.
“I kept these because I knew someday someone would ask.”
Mara opened the box.
Inside were medical notes.
Photographs.
A bracelet.
And a small piece of paper.
The nurse pointed at it.
“That was found with the missing baby.”
I picked it up.
There was only one word written.
WHITAKER.
My hands shook.
“Who was the baby?”
The nurse looked at me.
“Your daughter.”
The world stopped.
Mara covered her mouth.
“What?”
The nurse looked between us.
“She was born before the boys.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“That’s impossible.”
The nurse looked sad.
“She was alive.”
“For two days.”
“Then she disappeared.”
I couldn’t speak.
A daughter.
A child I never knew existed.
Another life stolen from me.
Mara looked at me.
Tears filled her eyes.
“Adrian…”
I couldn’t move.
I had four sons.
And now I had a daughter.
A daughter who vanished before I ever held her.
“Where is she?”
The nurse looked down.
“I don’t know.”
“Your mother took the records.”
“Then someone changed everything.”
My phone suddenly rang.
My investigator.
I answered immediately.
“Tell me.”
His voice was urgent.
“Adrian.”
“We found something.”
“What?”
“The missing child.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
A pause.
Then:
“She wasn’t missing.”
“She was hidden.”
“By someone who wanted you to believe she died.”
I gripped the phone.
“Who?”
Another silence.
Then he said:
“Someone in your family.”
The call ended.
Mara looked at me.
May you like
And we both knew.
The nightmare was not over.
