Brandon took a step backward.

“Twins?”

“No.”

Her answer came immediately.

“Not twins.”

“Then what are you talking about?”

Madeline looked at me.

“One baby belonged to you.”

She pointed at the photograph.

“And the other belonged to someone else.”

I felt sick.

“Where is the other baby?”

Madeline didn’t answer.

“Where is he?”

Her lips trembled.

“I don’t know.”

Brandon’s face hardened.

“You expect us to believe that?”

“I don’t expect you to believe anything.”

“Then tell us the truth!”

Madeline flinched.

A nurse appeared at the door.

“Please keep your voices down.”

Brandon stepped aside.

“I’m sorry.”

The nurse looked at Luke.

“He’s stable for now. The doctor wants to speak with both parents.”

She left.

Madeline remained in the doorway.

I stared at her.

“Why did you know about another baby?”

Madeline lowered her eyes.

“Because I was there.”

“Where?”

“At the hospital.”

“When?”

“The night Luke was born.”

I felt my stomach twist.

“You weren’t there.”

“I was.”

“I never saw you.”

“You weren’t supposed to.”

Brandon looked at her.

“What did you do?”

Madeline’s eyes filled with tears.

“I didn’t switch the babies.”

I froze.

She continued.

“But I knew someone who did.”

The doctor entered a few minutes later.

He was carrying a folder.

His expression was serious.

“Mr. and Mrs. Carter?”

“Yes.”

“Your son’s bloodwork is unusual.”

My heart sank.

“Is he in danger?”

“Not immediately.”

He sat down.

“But there’s an inconsistency we need to investigate.”

Brandon asked,

“His blood type?”

“Yes.”

The doctor opened the folder.

“The blood type recorded at birth is O positive.”

“And?”

“The sample we took today indicates A positive.”

I stared at him.

“Could the test be wrong?”

“It’s possible. That’s why we repeated it.”

“And?”

“Same result.”

Brandon looked at Luke.

“What does that mean?”

“It means either the original record is incorrect, or there is something we don’t yet understand about his medical history.”

I thought about the photograph.

The birthmark.

Madeline’s words.

Two babies.

Then I asked the question that had been haunting me.

“Doctor, can a child have a blood type that doesn’t match either parent?”

He looked at us.

“Yes, under certain circumstances.”

“What circumstances?”

“Rare genetic situations. But before we jump to conclusions, we need a DNA test.”

Brandon looked at me.

I nodded.

“Do it.”

The doctor closed the folder.

“We’ll arrange it.”

Then he hesitated.

“There is one more thing.”

“What?”

“The original birth records were requested from the hospital archives this morning.”

My skin prickled.

“By whom?”

The doctor looked at the file.

“Someone using your husband’s family authorization.”

Brandon stood.

“I never authorized that.”

“I assumed it was your mother.”

Everyone looked at Madeline.

She shook her head.

“No.”

Brandon stared at her.

“You didn’t?”

“No.”

“Then who did?”

Madeline whispered,

“I think I know.”

The doctor looked between them.

“Who?”

Madeline answered,

“Dr. Nathaniel Reed.”

The name meant nothing to me.

But Brandon suddenly went pale.

“Mom…”

“What?”

“You said that name.”

“I know.”

“That’s the doctor who delivered Luke.”

Silence.

I turned toward him.

“You never told me his name.”

“I didn’t remember.”

“You didn’t remember the doctor who delivered our son?”

“It was four years ago.”

“Brandon.”

He rubbed his forehead.

“I was exhausted. Everything happened so fast.”

Madeline whispered,

“He was working with the clinic at the time.”

I looked at her.

“Working with them for what?”

She didn’t answer.

Brandon grabbed the brown envelope.

“I’m going to find him.”

Madeline reached for his arm.

“No.”

He pulled away.

“Why?”

“Because he isn’t the person you think he is.”

That night, Luke was moved to a private room.

The tests continued.

I stayed beside him.

Brandon left to make calls.

Madeline sat alone in the hallway.

She hadn’t tried to leave.

She hadn’t called anyone.

She simply sat there with her hands clasped together.

Eventually, I walked toward her.

She looked up.

“Are you here to hate me?”

“I don’t have time to hate you.”

She nodded.

“Good.”

“I want answers.”

“You deserve them.”

“Then tell me.”

Madeline looked down at her hands.

“Four years ago, I received a phone call.”

“From Dr. Reed?”

“Yes.”

“What did he say?”

“He told me your baby had been born.”

I frowned.

“You already knew I was in labor?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

Madeline’s eyes filled with tears.

“Because I had been paying him.”

My heart stopped.

“For what?”

“To watch you.”

“Why?”

She looked away.

“Because I believed you were hiding something from Brandon.”

“What?”

“That Luke wasn’t his.”

I stared at her.

“Why would you think that?”

“Because of the timing.”

“What timing?”

Madeline hesitated.

Then she said,

“Brandon was away three months before Luke was born.”

I felt my stomach drop.

“He was away for work.”

“I know.”

“He came home before Luke was born.”

“I know.”

“So what?”

Madeline whispered,

“The night he came home, someone saw you with another man.”

My mouth went dry.

“That never happened.”

“I believe you now.”

“Who was the man?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then why believe it?”

“Because the person who gave me the information showed me photographs.”

My heart began racing.

“What photographs?”

Madeline reached into her purse.

She pulled out a small plastic envelope.

Inside were several photographs.

I looked at the first.

It showed me leaving a restaurant.

The second showed me standing beside a man.

The third showed us talking.

My hands trembled.

“I don’t know him.”

Madeline nodded.

“I know.”

“What?”

“These photographs were manipulated.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I hired someone to verify them.”

“Who?”

“Dr. Reed.”

I stared at her.

“You hired the same doctor who delivered my son to investigate me?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because he told me he could prove Luke wasn’t Brandon’s.”

I felt tears burn my eyes.

“And did he?”

Madeline shook her head.

“No.”

“Then what happened?”

“He told me something else.”

“What?”

Madeline looked toward Luke’s room.

“He said your baby had been switched.”

My heart seemed to stop.

“Switched with whom?”

“I never knew.”

“Then why did you keep quiet?”

Madeline’s eyes filled with tears.

“Because he threatened me.”

“With what?”

She whispered,

“Your son’s life.”

I froze.

“What?”

“He told me that if I went to the police, if I told Brandon, or if I tried to investigate the hospital, Luke would disappear.”

My hands began shaking.

“You believed him?”

“I had no choice.”

“You always have a choice.”

Madeline looked at me.

“Not when the person threatening you has already proven they can reach your family.”

I stared at her.

“What did he do?”

She didn’t answer.

“Madeline.”

She finally whispered,

“He made another child disappear.”

A chill ran through me.

“Who?”

She looked directly into my eyes.

“The baby in the photograph.”

Before I could ask another question, Brandon came running down the hallway.

“Where’s Mom?”

“She told me—”

He held up his phone.

“I found Dr. Reed.”

My heart raced.

“Where?”

“He’s still practicing.”

“Where?”

Brandon showed me the screen.

There was an address.

A private medical office only twenty minutes away.

“We’re going there,” he said.

The doctor stopped us before we could leave.

“Mr. Carter, your son needs observation.”

“I’ll be back.”

“Don’t take unnecessary risks.”

Brandon looked at me.

“I need answers.”

I nodded.

“I’ll go with you.”

Madeline stood.

“So will I.”

Brandon stared at her.

“No.”

“You need me.”

“After everything you’ve done?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I am the only person alive who knows what Dr. Reed did.”

That stopped him.

Twenty-five minutes later, we arrived at the address.

The building looked abandoned.

The windows were dark.

There was no sign.

No receptionist.

No cars.

Brandon tried the front door.

Locked.

He knocked.

Nothing.

Then Madeline walked toward the side entrance.

“Here.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve been here before.”

She pulled a key from her purse.

Brandon stared at it.

“You’ve been coming here?”

Madeline nodded.

“For four years.”

She unlocked the door.

We entered.

The hallway smelled of dust and disinfectant.

A single light flickered overhead.

We walked deeper into the building.

Then we heard something.

A faint ringing.

A telephone.

Brandon followed the sound.

It was coming from an office at the end of the corridor.

He opened the door.

An old desk stood inside.

A phone was ringing on it.

No one was there.

Brandon picked it up.

“Hello?”

Silence.

Then a man’s voice spoke.

“I wondered how long it would take you.”

Brandon froze.

“Who is this?”

“You already know.”

“Dr. Reed?”

The man laughed softly.

“You should have left the past alone.”

Brandon’s grip tightened around the phone.

“Where are you?”

“Close.”

“What did you do to my son?”

Silence.

Then the voice said,

“Your son is exactly where he is supposed to be.”

I stepped forward.

“What does that mean?”

The voice changed.

It became colder.

“Ask your mother.”

Madeline went white.

“Don’t.”

The caller continued.

“She knows what happened to the other child.”

The line went dead.

Brandon slowly lowered the phone.

Then we heard a noise behind us.

A door closing.

We turned.

At the end of the hallway stood a man in a dark coat.

He stared at us for one second.

Then ran.

Brandon chased him.

“Stop!”

I followed.

Madeline stayed behind.

The man disappeared through a rear exit.

When Brandon returned, he was breathing heavily.

“Did you catch him?”

“No.”

Then he looked down.

Something was lying on the floor.

A small hospital bracelet.

He picked it up.

There was a name written on it.

Not Luke.

Not Brandon.

Not mine.

A boy’s name.

Ethan Reed Carter.

I stared at it.

“Who is Ethan?”

Madeline covered her mouth.

Then she whispered the words that changed everything.

“That was the name I was told to give the other baby.”

Brandon looked at her.

“Other baby?”

Madeline nodded.

“And if Ethan was real…”

She looked at me.

“…then someone has been hiding him for four years.”

My phone suddenly rang.

It was the hospital.

I answered.

“Hello?”

The nurse’s voice was trembling.

“Mrs. Carter, you need to come back immediately.”

“What happened?”

There was a pause.

Then she said,

“Your son woke up.”

I exhaled.

“Is he okay?”

“No.”

My blood ran cold.

“What happened?”

“He keeps asking for someone.”

“Who?”

The nurse hesitated.

Then whispered,

“He keeps saying…”

I waited.

“‘Where is my brother?’”

I looked at Brandon.

He had heard the words.

Neither of us moved.

Because until that moment, we had been searching for a missing child.

Now we had to face something even more terrifying.

Luke might already know exactly who that child was.

PART 4 — THE HAPPY FULL ENDING

“Where is my brother?”

Luke’s tiny voice echoed through the hospital room.

I stood frozen beside his bed.