Chapter 4 - The Second Report
Ethan admitted receiving second envelope after Sophie was born.
Claire’s fury became colder.
“You have been lying to me for four years.”
“I never told you because by then it was over.”
“What was over?”
“The question.”
“What did the second report say?”
“It said the first one wasn't ours.”
Claire stared.
Ethan explained.
At 5:40 a.m., while Claire slept after delivery, hospital administrator gave him envelope found in bag.
It contained Northbridge correction notice.
There had been unauthorized access to Claire’s prenatal sample order.
No paternity analysis had actually been requested or performed on Claire.
The report Vanessa showed Ethan had been fabricated from another patient record.
“So you knew Sophie wasn’t excluded as your child.”
“Yes.”
“Did you do a real paternity test?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because there had never been a reason before that fake report.”
“But once you saw it?”
Ethan looked toward hallway.
“I almost did.”
Claire’s stomach tightened.
“You almost tested Sophie without telling me.”
“I didn't.”
“Why?”
“Because holding her…”
He stopped.
“When she was born, I looked at her and realized I was about to let a piece of paper decide whether I loved my daughter.”
Claire’s eyes filled.
“That's a beautiful answer four years late.”
He looked down.
“Yes.”
She asked again:
“What did you promise Vanessa?”
Ethan still resisted.
So Vanessa provided another piece.
An audio recording.
Only nine seconds.
Hotel-room acoustics.
Ethan’s voice:
“If you're telling me the truth… if Claire lied about this… then I’ll choose you.”
Recording ended.
Claire felt sick.
Vanessa whispered:
“There.”
Ethan stood.
“You cut it.”
“Those are your words.”
“You cut what came before and after.”
Claire looked at him.
“What came after?”
Ethan answered:
“I said I would choose her version of events over Claire’s if she could prove it.”
Vanessa laughed.
“No. You said you’d leave.”
Ethan stared at her.
“Play the rest.”
“I don't have it.”
“Convenient.”
Vanessa’s eyes narrowed.
“I remember.”
“So do I.”
Two incompatible memories.
Who was lying?
Maybe both partly.
Then Claire noticed something in audio.
A faint sound.
Three quick knocks.
A woman’s voice in background:
“Mr. Bennett?”
The unknown woman carrying Claire’s bag.
The recording continued somewhere beyond Vanessa’s clip.
If full audio existed, it might contain promise.
Hotel security provider had retained old emergency audio from rooms because storm caused evacuation claim.
Attorney requested archive.
One damaged file from Room 814 survived.
Length:
twenty-seven minutes.
Most corrupted.
But waveform showed voices after Vanessa’s nine-second recording.
Recovery began.
Then Sophie’s pediatrician called.
Vanessa had told Sophie something earlier that day before trying to remove her from bed.
Sophie finally repeated it:
“She said she was there before I was born.”
Claire knelt.
“What else?”
“She said Daddy was supposed to take me to her.”
Ethan closed eyes.
Vanessa had introduced another secret.
Not merely:
May you like
I’ll choose you.
She was claiming Ethan promised something involving Sophie herself.
