Chapter 4 - The Hospital BetrayalSubtitle: Someone Had Been Watching Every ScanThe next morning, the police sealed the hospital office where my prenatal records were stored.
I couldn't sleep.
Not because of the pain.
Because every time I closed my eyes, I saw Mrs. Sterling grabbing Leo.
I saw her slap me.
I heard Karen say:
"Daniel promised me."
But the hospital records changed everything.
Someone had accessed my files repeatedly.
My blood work.
My ultrasounds.
The fetal measurements.
The scheduled C-section.
Even the exact room I had been assigned.
Mike returned around seven.
"There were seventeen unauthorized access attempts."
"Seventeen?"
He nodded.
"All from the same employee login."
"Who?"
He didn't answer immediately.
"Do you know a nurse named Patricia Cole?"
The name meant nothing.
"No."
"She was assigned to your prenatal clinic."
My stomach dropped.
I remembered her.
A cheerful nurse with red hair who always asked how I was feeling.
She had been the one who told Daniel the babies were measuring large.
She had been the one who confirmed my C-section date.
"She wasn't assigned to this hospital today," Mike continued. "She resigned last night."
"Convenient."
"Very."
My phone vibrated.
Daniel.
I ignored it.
It rang again.
Then a text appeared.
WE NEED TO TALK.
I typed:
THERE IS NOTHING LEFT TO TALK ABOUT.
His response came immediately.
YOU DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING.
I stared at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
MY FATHER ORDERED IT.
I sat up.
Mike saw my expression.
"What?"
I showed him.
His jaw tightened.
"Interesting."
"He's blaming his father."
"Maybe he is."
The door opened.
My attorney, Victoria Hale, walked in.
Victoria had represented me before I became a judge.
She knew every secret I'd ever kept.
She took one look at my face.
"Tell me."
I handed her the adoption papers.
She read them.
Then looked at the signature.
"This isn't your signature."
"No."
"Forgery."
"I know."
Victoria turned to Mike.
"Who has been arrested?"
"Nobody yet."
She smiled coldly.
"Good."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Why good?"
"Because now they still think they're ahead."
I didn't like that sentence.
"What do you know?"
Victoria placed a folder on my lap.
"Your father-in-law has been moving assets."
"Where?"
"Offshore."
I opened the folder.
Bank transfers.
Shell companies.
Property transfers.
Payments to private investigators.
And one payment that made my hands shake.
$250,000.
To Karen Sterling.
"Why did he pay her?"
Victoria pointed toward the bottom of the document.
"Look at the reference."
I read it.
PROJECT LEO.
My stomach turned.
Mike swore quietly.
"This wasn't an emotional family decision."
"No," Victoria said.
"It was a transaction."
I looked at the documents.
Every piece of this had been planned.
The adoption.
The surveillance.
The money.
The hospital records.
They had turned my unborn child into an asset.
Then my phone rang again.
This time, the caller ID showed an unknown number.
I answered.
"Hello?"
A male voice spoke.
"Judge Vance."
I sat perfectly still.
"Who is this?"
"You need to stop investigating the Sterlings."
My eyes met Mike's.
"Or?"
"You'll lose more than your children."
The line went dead.
Mike immediately stood.
"Trace it."
The detective started working.
Victoria leaned closer.
"Do you recognize the voice?"
"No."
I looked through the hospital window at my twins.
Then I whispered:
"They're threatening a judge."
Victoria's eyes hardened.
"They have no idea what they've started."
A minute later, Mike's phone rang.
He answered.
Then his expression changed.
"What?"
He listened.
"Repeat that."
Silence.
Then he looked at me.
"Your Honor..."
I already knew this would be bad.
"What?"
"Your husband just filed an emergency petition."
"Against whom?"
Mike hesitated.
"Against you."
I stared at him.
"For custody?"
"No."
May you like
He swallowed.
"For involuntary psychiatric detention."
Related Stories
