Chapter 1 - The Name on the Birth Certificate
The black ink was still wet when I finally found my voice.
“Take your name off that paper.”
Luka Moretti looked at me without flinching.
The nurse beside him looked even more shocked than I felt.
“That isn’t how birth certificates work,” I said.
“I know.”
“Then why did you do it?”
Luka closed the folder.
“Because your husband filed something downstairs before he left.”
My stomach tightened.
“What did Derek file?”
Luka glanced toward the nurse.
She immediately stepped away.
That frightened me more than anything.
Luka lowered his voice.
“A paternity dispute.”
I stared at him.
“That’s impossible.”
“He submitted a prenatal DNA report claiming the baby isn’t his.”
My daughter shifted against my chest.
Her tiny mouth opened.
Then she settled again.
I felt as though the floor had tilted beneath me.
“I never cheated on my husband.”
“I know.”
Those two words came too quickly.
Too confidently.
I looked at Luka.
“You keep saying things like you know me.”
“I know enough.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No.”
His jaw tightened.
“It isn’t.”
A hospital administrator appeared at the end of the corridor.
Two security officers walked beside him.
The administrator was carrying a gray folder.
A red label had been placed across the front.
PATERNITY DISPUTE.
My pulse exploded.
Luka moved closer to me.
“Listen carefully.”
I almost laughed from panic.
“I don’t even know who you are.”
“You will.”
The administrator approached.
“Mrs. Hayes?”
“Yes.”
“We need to speak privately regarding your daughter.”
Luka stepped between us.
“She just delivered a baby.”
“This concerns hospital procedure.”
“What procedure?”
The administrator looked uncomfortable.
“Mr. Hayes has alleged possible medical fraud involving the pregnancy.”
My mouth went dry.
Derek had not simply abandoned us.
He had planned something before walking away.
The administrator opened the folder.
Inside was a copy of a DNA report.
PATERNITY PROBABILITY: 0.00%.
My vision blurred.
“That’s fake.”
“No one is saying otherwise,” the administrator replied carefully.
“But until the matter is reviewed, there may be additional documentation required before discharge.”
Luka suddenly held out his hand.
“Show me the laboratory number.”
The administrator hesitated.
Luka took the report.
His expression changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
He turned the paper toward me.
At the bottom of the report was a code.
M-17.
My breath stopped.
Luka looked directly at me.
“That code should have disappeared twenty-five years ago.”
I stared at him.
“What does that mean?”
His eyes dropped to my daughter.
Then he said something I would remember for the rest of my life.
“It means this was never about Derek doubting your baby.”
May you like
He looked toward the elevator.
“It means someone has been waiting for your baby to be born.”
