Chapter 10 - Not VanessaThe woman in the photograph was not Vanessa.
She was Rebecca.
The baby was me.
And the third person was another woman.
A woman I had seen in EverBloom records.
Eleanor Hayes.
But that wasn't the worst part.
The back of the photograph contained an old notation.
Child transferred under family protection.
I looked at Miriam.
“Who was protecting me?”
She shook her head.
“That's what we need to find out.”
We brought the photograph to an archivist.
He recognized the handwriting.
“That's Dr. Voss.”
“The doctor?”
“Yes.”
“The one connected to EverBloom?”
He nodded.
Then he looked at the photograph again.
“This woman…”
“Eleanor?”
“No.”
He pointed at her.
“This is not Eleanor Hayes.”
I stared.
“What?”
He disappeared into the archive and returned with a personnel record from 1994.
The photograph's woman was listed as:
Marianne Hayes.
Eleanor's mother.
I sat down.
The network wasn't decades old.
It was older.
Much older.
Marianne had been part of Genesis.
Her daughter inherited the structure.
EverBloom was simply the latest shell.
I felt like I was walking through a building with rooms inside rooms.
Every door revealed another door.
Then the archivist asked:
“Are you sure you're Claire Bennett?”
I looked at him.
“Yes.”
He turned the record around.
The birth certificate attached to the file showed another name.
Clara Hayes.
I stared.
“What is this?”
Miriam grabbed the document.
The birth date was mine.
The hospital was mine.
The mother was Rebecca Bennett.
The father was listed as unknown.
The child was Clara Hayes.
Not Claire Bennett.
I couldn't breathe.
Someone had legally changed my identity.
Not as an adult.
At birth.
I looked at Miriam.
“Who changed it?”
The archivist pointed to an amendment.
Requested by:
James Bennett.
Approved by:
Marianne Hayes.
Witnessed by:
Dr. Harold Voss.
The three names connected everything.
My father.
The founder of the network.
The woman who controlled it.
I whispered:
“I was never supposed to be Claire.”
Miriam nodded slowly.
“You were placed into your family.”
“Why?”
“Because they needed you hidden.”
“From whom?”
She looked at the photograph.
“From everyone.”
I stood.
“Then Vanessa…”
Miriam's expression changed.
“What?”
“You said she was selected because she couldn't produce eggs.”
“Yes.”
“What if that wasn't the real reason?”
We searched old medical files.
Vanessa's birth record appeared.
Her mother was listed as Marianne Hayes.
I stared at the page.
“What?”
Miriam leaned closer.
Vanessa's birth mother was not my mother.
Not Mom.
Not even Rebecca.
Marianne Hayes.
The same woman from the photograph.
Vanessa wasn't my biological sister.
She was Eleanor's family.
Which meant…
Grant had been married into the network.
But Vanessa had been born inside it.
I felt sick.
Everything I believed about my sister was wrong.
Her childhood.
Her family connection.
Her supposed infertility.
Even her surname.
I looked at Miriam.
“Does Vanessa know?”
“She must.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“She looked genuinely shocked when Grant admitted the donor material wasn't hers.”
“Maybe she didn't know everything.”
“Then why did she call me Claire?”
Miriam looked at me.
“Because that was the identity they gave you.”
I thought about Easter.
Her joke.
What are you saving your body for?
The contract.
The pressure.
The money.
The fertility company.
Everything had been engineered.
But one question remained.
Why was Vanessa so desperate to have my child?
Then Miriam found another document.
A medical authorization.
The intended mother was not Vanessa.
It was a placeholder entity.
The actual biological parent was undisclosed.
That meant Vanessa might not even have been the intended parent.
She was a legal front.
A face the family could use.
I stared at the page.
“Whose child was this supposed to be?”
Miriam looked at the signature.
Her face went pale.
“Eleanor's.”
I laughed in disbelief.
“Eleanor can't be the genetic mother.”
“No.”
“Then why does she want the baby?”
Miriam pointed to one line.
Custodial rights upon delivery.
I froze.
“The baby wasn't for Vanessa.”
“No.”
“Then who?”
May you like
Miriam's voice dropped.
“The company.”
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