Chapter 2 - Room 814
The Grand Meridian had been demolished two years earlier.
But four years ago it was one of the most expensive hotels in Washington.
Claire remembered the place.
That was where Sophie’s birth story had begun.
Claire and Ethan had attended a Bennett Foundation gala when Claire was thirty-eight weeks pregnant.
They booked Suite 816 upstairs so Claire could rest.
Around 10:40 p.m., contractions started.
By 11:20, they were regular.
A storm had flooded several downtown roads.
An ambulance eventually transported Claire to St. Matthew Medical Center.
Sophie was born shortly after 2:00 a.m.
That was the story Claire knew.
Room 814 was directly beside theirs.
Ethan claimed he had never stayed there.
Vanessa claimed otherwise.
Claire put Sophie to sleep in another part of house with her sister present.
Then she sat across from Ethan.
“No more vague answers.”
“I know.”
“Were you with Vanessa that night?”
“Yes.”
The answer hurt more because it arrived so easily.
“How long?”
“Maybe fifteen minutes.”
“When?”
“Before the ambulance.”
“While I was in labor?”
“Yes.”
Claire stared at him.
“Why?”
“Vanessa called me.”
“She was already your ex.”
“Yes.”
“Why answer?”
“She said she had something about your pregnancy.”
Claire’s face tightened.
“What?”
Ethan hesitated.
“A laboratory report.”
“What laboratory report?”
He rubbed both hands over face.
“Prenatal screening.”
Claire laughed once.
There was nothing amused in it.
“You met your ex-girlfriend in the room next door while I was contracting because she claimed she had my medical records?”
“When you say it like that—”
“How else should I say it?”
Ethan stopped.
Claire had known Vanessa existed.
Ethan dated Vanessa for almost two years before meeting Claire.
Their breakup had been ugly.
Vanessa kept trying to reopen contact.
Ethan claimed he blocked her permanently six months before marrying Claire.
Claire believed him.
Until tonight.
“Did you sleep with her?”
“No.”
“That night?”
“No.”
“During my pregnancy?”
“No.”
“Ever after we got married?”
“No.”
Claire studied him.
She did not know whether she believed him yet.
“What did the report say?”
Ethan’s expression changed again.
“It had my name.”
“And?”
“It said the prenatal paternity markers were inconsistent.”
Claire became completely still.
“You thought Sophie wasn’t yours.”
“For about twenty minutes.”
Claire stood.
“Twenty minutes?”
“I knew the test shouldn’t even have existed. We never ordered one.”
“Exactly.”
“I was trying to understand where it came from.”
“So you went to Vanessa.”
“She had the report.”
“Why?”
“She said someone sent it to her.”
“Why would anyone send my medical records to your ex?”
“I didn't know.”
Claire looked toward sleeping daughter’s room.
Then back.
“What did you promise Vanessa?”
Ethan said nothing.
Claire’s voice lowered.
“Tell me now.”
Before he could, Ethan’s phone rang.
Their attorney had obtained archived Grand Meridian security footage.
One frame had survived from corridor outside Rooms 814 and 816.
Timestamp:
11:07 p.m.
Vanessa entering Room 814.
Then, at 11:12—
Ethan entering behind her.
At 11:26 he came out.
At 11:28 another person entered Room 814.
A woman in a hotel uniform.
Claire zoomed in.
Vanessa looked at image and whispered:
“That’s the woman who gave me the report.”
“Who is she?”
“I never knew.”
Claire looked closer.
The woman’s face was partially turned.
May you like
But one detail was clear.
She was carrying Claire’s hospital bag.
