Chapter 7: Why They Wanted Max
The room felt like it had stopped existing.
There was only one sentence left hanging in the air.
"They were looking for a baby with a specific bloodline."
And Daniel had said that bloodline belonged to Max.
My son.
My five-year-old boy who was standing beside me holding a stuffed rabbit.
The same child everyone thought was simply jealous of his new sister.
The same child who had been trying to warn us from the beginning.
I looked at Daniel.
"What are you saying?"
Daniel didn't answer immediately.
That frightened me more than anything.
Because Daniel was not searching for words.
He was deciding how much truth he could survive telling me.
"Daniel."
My voice became sharper.
"What does Max have to do with this?"
He looked at our son.
"Everything."
Max tightened his grip on my hand.
"Daddy..."
Daniel's expression broke.
He walked toward him slowly.
"I'm sorry."
Max stepped back.
The movement was small.
But I saw it.
My son was afraid of his father.
And that hurt more than any secret.
"Don't."
I stopped Daniel.
"Don't touch him until you explain."
Daniel froze.
He looked at me.
And for the first time since he entered the house...
He looked like a man who had lost everything.
"I never wanted this."
"Nobody wants a nightmare."
My voice trembled.
"But somehow, we are standing in the middle of one."
Rachel placed the documents on the table.
"Explain the bloodline."
Daniel looked at the papers.
Then took a deep breath.
"Five years ago, before Max was born, I discovered something about Dr. Vale's operation."
"Operation?"
Daniel nodded.
"He wasn't just switching babies."
Rachel frowned.
"Then what was he doing?"
Daniel looked at Max.
"He was searching."
"For what?"
"Certain genetic markers."
The words sounded unreal.
Like something from a movie.
But my son was standing there.
My baby was sleeping upstairs.
And a man had been watching my family for years.
"Why?"
I asked.
Daniel hesitated.
"Because some families carry rare inherited traits."
I frowned.
"Traits?"
"Medical traits. Genetic traits."
He looked at Max.
"Things that can predict certain conditions. Certain abilities. Certain compatibility."
Rachel crossed her arms.
"Compatibility for what?"
Daniel didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
The silence answered first.
Then he whispered:
"Research."
My stomach turned.
"They were experimenting?"
Daniel looked away.
"I don't know everything."
"Then tell me what you know."
He closed his eyes.
"Max was born after a pregnancy that doctors considered unusual."
I frowned.
"Unusual?"
"Your pregnancy was normal."
Daniel shook his head.
"I'm talking about mine."
I froze.
"Yours?"
Daniel looked at Max.
"When Max was born, they took extra blood samples."
I stared.
"Why?"
"They said it was routine."
"And you believed them?"
"No."
His voice became bitter.
"I believed them the first time."
The room became quiet.
"Then I found the records."
He walked to the table.
Pulled out another document.
I had not noticed it before.
It was folded beneath the hospital files.
He opened it.
A newborn record.
Max Anderson.
My hands began shaking.
"What is that?"
Daniel didn't look at me.
"The reason they wanted him."
I took the paper.
At the top was Max's name.
But underneath...
A section had been highlighted.
"Maternal genetic history."
I looked confused.
"What does this mean?"
Daniel pointed.
"Your family history."
"My family?"
He nodded.
"They weren't interested in my blood."
A pause.
"They were interested in yours."
I felt the room tilt.
"My family?"
Daniel nodded.
"The bloodline they were searching for comes from your mother's side."
I stared at him.
"But my family is normal."
"That's what everyone thought."
Rachel looked at Daniel.
"Then why didn't they take Max?"
Daniel's face became dark.
"Because they tried."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
"The night Max was born..."
He swallowed.
"Someone entered the maternity ward."
A cold feeling moved through me.
"I thought it was a robbery."
Daniel looked at me.
"It wasn't."
"What happened?"
"They tried to remove Max from the hospital."
I covered my mouth.
"No."
Daniel nodded.
"I stopped them."
My eyes filled with tears.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
His expression shattered.
"Because the person who helped them get inside..."
He paused.
"It was someone you trusted."
The air disappeared from my lungs.
"Who?"
Daniel looked toward the door.
Like he was afraid the answer might already be nearby.
Then he said:
"Your doctor."
I felt sick.
"My doctor?"
"The same doctor who delivered Max."
I shook my head.
"No."
Daniel continued.
"He wasn't working alone."
Rachel looked at him.
"Dr. Vale."
Daniel nodded.
"Yes."
A terrible silence followed.
Then Max spoke.
A tiny voice.
"Daddy."
Everyone looked at him.
"Why did they want me?"
Daniel immediately knelt down.
The pain on his face was impossible to hide.
"I don't know, buddy."
"But you know something."
Max's words were simple.
But they hit harder than any accusation.
Because they were true.
Daniel looked at his son.
And finally said:
"They believed you were important."
Max frowned.
"Why?"
Daniel's eyes filled with tears.
"Because they believed you could help them find something."
"What?"
Daniel looked at me.
Then whispered:
"The child they lost."
I froze.
"What child?"
Nobody answered.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
Again.
I stared at the screen.
Daniel's face changed instantly.
"Don't answer."
I looked at him.
"Why?"
His voice dropped.
"Because if it's who I think it is..."
The phone kept ringing.
"Then they already know we found out."
The ringing stopped.
A message appeared.
One sentence.
From the unknown number.
I opened it.
And my blood turned cold.
The message said:
"Ask Daniel why he erased Max's first five years."
I slowly raised my eyes.
Everyone was staring at me.
Because we all understood the same thing.
There was another secret.
A secret even Daniel had hidden.
And this time...
It wasn't about the hospital.
It was about my son.
About the first five years of his life.
May you like
The years I thought I knew everything about.
The years that suddenly felt like a lie.
