Chapter 3: The Secret Hidden in the Medical Records
Chapter 3: The Secret Hidden in the Medical Records
The room went silent.
Graham tightened his grip on the phone.
"What do you mean you had access to his medical records?"
Victoria sighed as if she were the victim in all of this.
"I was only protecting my grandson."
"Our son," I corrected sharply.
A long pause followed.
Then Victoria spoke.
"There's something the doctors found after he was born."
My stomach twisted.
"What are you talking about?"
"They noticed a genetic marker."
Graham's face turned pale.
"What marker?"
"I don't think this conversation should happen over the phone."
"Tell me now," he demanded.
Victoria hesitated.
Then she said the words that shattered the room.
"The marker doesn't exist anywhere in the Hayes bloodline."
For a moment nobody breathed.
I stared at the wall.
Graham stared at the floor.
Victoria continued.
"I simply wanted confirmation."
"Confirmation of what?" Graham asked.
The answer came like a knife.
"That the baby is really yours."
My blood turned cold.
"You vile woman."
But Victoria wasn't finished.
"A DNA test would settle everything."
The accusation hung in the air.
I looked at my husband.
Fear flashed across his face.
Not because he believed her.
Because for the first time he realized how far his mother was willing to go.
"Mom," he said quietly, "have you completely lost your mind?"
"I am protecting this family."
"No," he replied. "You're destroying it."
Victoria ended the call.
The silence afterward felt heavier than any argument.
Then Graham slowly turned toward me.
"Hannah..."
Tears filled my eyes.
"Do you believe her?"
His answer came instantly.
"No."
The certainty in his voice broke something inside me.
For months I had felt alone.
For months Victoria had managed to place herself between us.
But now Graham finally saw her.
Not the perfect mother.
Not the respected matriarch.
The manipulator.
The controller.
The woman who would accuse her own daughter-in-law of infidelity just to maintain power.
Then his phone buzzed again.
A new message appeared.
It wasn't from Victoria.
It was from an unknown number.
Attached was a photograph.
Graham opened it.
And froze.
I moved beside him.
The picture showed Victoria sitting across from a private investigator.
On the table between them sat a file.
The file was labeled with our son's name.
May you like
Underneath the image was a single message.
Your mother isn't looking for answers. She's hiding something.
