Chapter 4 - The Baby Switch“Put the gun down,” David said.
His voice was low.
Controlled.
But I could hear the fear beneath it.
Elizabeth's hand trembled.
“I don't want to hurt anyone.”
“Then put it down.”
She slowly lowered the weapon.
Karen began sobbing.
“You weren't supposed to come here.”
Elizabeth looked at her.
“You were supposed to destroy the evidence.”
“Mom…”
David stared at his mother.
“How long?”
Elizabeth closed her eyes.
“How long have you known?”
“For eight years.”
The words barely escaped her mouth.
I felt the room spin.
Eight years.
Eight years of birthday candles.
School photographs.
Christmas mornings.
Sick days.
Bedtime stories.
Everything.
“You switched babies?”
Elizabeth shook her head.
“I didn't.”
“Then who did?”
“Rachel.”
“Why?”
She looked at me.
“Because your husband’s father ordered it.”
David froze.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“Why would he do that?”
Elizabeth's face twisted with shame.
“Because the Bennett family had an heir requirement.”
David laughed bitterly.
“You're telling me my father stole a baby because of a trust?”
“No.”
She swallowed.
“It was worse.”
She finally put the gun on the table.
“Your father's first child died.”
David stared.
“What?”
“Before you were born.”
Elizabeth continued.
“He believed the family needed a male heir.”
“You're insane.”
“He was obsessed with bloodlines.”
She pulled a folder from her coat.
Inside were old legal documents.
“One biological Bennett grandson was supposed to inherit everything.”
She pointed at Oliver's name.
“Your father suspected Oliver wasn't yours.”
“Why?”
“Because Karen told him.”
Karen started crying.
“I made a mistake.”
David turned toward her.
“You told Dad?”
“I thought Oliver was adopted!”
“You knew Vanessa was pregnant.”
“I knew she was pregnant,” Karen whispered.
“But I never trusted her.”
I felt something inside me break.
“You let people believe that?”
Karen's eyes filled with tears.
“I saw documents.”
“What documents?”
“A hospital record.”
“What record?”
“That Oliver's blood type didn't match.”
David shook his head.
“What?”
Karen looked at him.
“That's where everything started.”
Eight years earlier, someone had shown the Bennett family a lab report suggesting that Oliver's blood type was incompatible with David's.
Instead of questioning the report, David's father ordered an investigation.
Rachel discovered the sample had been contaminated.
But before she could expose it, she was threatened.
And then the baby switch happened.
I couldn't comprehend it.
“So you're telling me my baby was taken?”
“No,” Elizabeth said.
“You were never supposed to know.”
My voice rose.
“Where was my baby?”
No one answered.
“WHERE WAS MY BABY?”
Elizabeth began crying.
“Rachel took the original baby.”
“Why?”
“To protect him.”
“From what?”
“Your father-in-law had arranged for the child to be given to another family.”
David's face went white.
“What family?”
Elizabeth looked at him.
“The Harringtons.”
The name meant nothing to me.
But it meant something to David.
I saw it in his expression.
“You know them.”
He swallowed.
“They were business associates of Dad.”
“Why would they take my son?”
Elizabeth answered.
“Because they couldn't have children.”
I backed away.
“No.”
My voice cracked.
“No.”
David grabbed my hand.
“We're going to find him.”
Karen suddenly shouted.
“Wait!”
Everyone turned.
“I know where Rachel is.”
Elizabeth stared at her.
Karen looked at me.
“She contacted me six months ago.”
“Why didn't you tell us?”
“Because she had the file.”
“What file?”
“The original birth records.”
My heart pounded.
Karen continued.
“Rachel said she had proof that Oliver was switched.”
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
“Karen.”
“She gave me an address.”
She reached into her bag.
But before she could pull it out, the front windows shattered.
Glass exploded across the room.
David tackled me to the floor.
Another shot cracked through the air.
Karen screamed.
Elizabeth collapsed beside the sofa.
Then silence.
David lifted his head.
“Everyone okay?”
I looked around.
Karen was bleeding from her arm.
Elizabeth was conscious.
Then David noticed the envelope.
It had fallen from Karen's hand.
He picked it up.
The address was written on the front.
RACHEL MORGAN
BLACKWOOD FARM
WEST COUNTY
We rushed to the car.
The entire drive, I stared at the envelope.
Then I noticed something else.
A second line.
Written smaller.
Don't trust anyone with the name Bennett.
David saw it.
He didn't speak.
I looked at him.
“Does that include you?”
His face shattered.
“Vanessa.”
“Your whole family lied to me.”
“I didn't know.”
“You didn't know about your father's obsession?”
“No.”
“You didn't know about the blood test?”
“No.”
“You didn't know about the switch?”
“No.”
“Then what do you know?”
He looked at the road.
“I know one thing.”
“What?”
“I love Oliver.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“And I will burn down every secret in my family before I let anyone take him from us.”
We reached Blackwood Farm just before midnight.
The house was dark.
The front door stood open.
Inside, everything was covered in dust.
Then we heard a voice from upstairs.
A woman's voice.
“Vanessa.”
I froze.
Dr. Rachel Morgan appeared at the top of the staircase.
She looked older.
Exhausted.
Terrified.
But alive.
“I've been waiting for you.”
I climbed the stairs.
“You took my baby.”
Rachel's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
“Where is he?”
She whispered:
“I don't know.”
I felt the world disappear.
May you like
Then Rachel said the words that broke me completely.
“The boy you're raising isn't the baby I delivered into your arms.”
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