Chapter 5
Someone who could have changed everything.
“How did you find me now?”
Vivienne’s mouth tightened.
“Your prenatal labs.”
I turned my head.
She reached into her folder and withdrew a page. “You were flagged for a rare blood marker. It matched one in our family database. I thought it was impossible at first. Then I saw your mother’s name in your emergency history.”
“My mother’s name is in my file?”
“You wrote it on your intake form six months ago.”
I remembered.
Mother’s medical history: Clara Vale. Deceased.
A careless little line.
A thread across twenty-eight years.
“I requested a confidential review,” Vivienne continued. “Then I found your photograph. I knew before the confirmation test.”
I swallowed. “You did a confirmation test?”
“Blood relation can be established from routine lab markers, but I ordered nothing outside legal permission. I was preparing to contact you privately.” Her gaze darkened. “Then I saw Bennett Finch listed as your spouse.”
The way she said his name made my skin prickle.
“You know him.”
“Everyone in this city knows Bennett Finch. Most are simply paid not to say what they know.”
I almost smiled.
Almost.
A knock struck the door.
Vivienne stood at once.
Elena entered, carrying a tablet and looking grim.
“Dr. Hart. Security has the footage.”
Vivienne did not move. “And?”
Elena glanced at me.
I nodded once.
“She kicked Mrs. Finch,” Elena said. “Clear view. There’s audio too.”
My stomach twisted.
Audio.
Margot’s whisper.
Maybe now she’ll finally understand where she belongs.
Bennett’s voice.
Don’t make this dramatic.
Margot’s excuse.
She barely even—
Vivienne’s face went still in that dangerous way again.
“Preserve three copies. One to legal, one to hospital security, one to my office. Do not release anything without my authorization or Mrs. Finch’s consent.”
Elena nodded.
“And Bennett?” I asked.
Elena hesitated.
Vivienne answered. “He is in the administrative wing with his attorney.”
Of course he was.
Bennett moved fast when his reflection cracked.
“He called an attorney already?” I asked.
“He came with one,” Vivienne said.
A chill passed over me.
“What?”
Vivienne’s eyes met mine.
“He arrived at the hospital this morning with Margot Vale and Daniel Crewe from Finch Holdings’ legal office.”
I frowned. “Vale?”
Elena looked confused. “Margot’s last name?”
My mouth went dry.
“No,” I said. “Margot’s last name is Sinclair.”
Vivienne’s expression sharpened.
Elena checked the tablet. “Security logged her as Margot Vale. That is what was on her visitor ID.”
The room tightened around me.
Vale.
My mother’s maiden name.
My maiden name, before Bennett convinced me that Halloway sounded “less complicated” for public life and Finch would finish the transformation.
Tessa Vale.
I had not used it in years.
Vivienne took the tablet from Elena and read.
For the first time since she had appeared in the hallway, uncertainty crossed her face.
“That cannot be,” she murmured.
“What does it mean?” I asked.
But I already knew Bennett well enough to understand the shape of a trap before I saw its teeth.
Three days earlier, he had frozen my cards.
Two weeks earlier, he had insisted I sign revised trust documents before the baby was born.
One month earlier, he had told me Margot was “a consultant” helping with the Finch Foundation’s maternal health initiative.
And that morning, he had shown up with Margot at my hospital.
Not by accident.
Not because of me.
Because of blood.
Vivienne turned toward Elena. “Find out who created that visitor badge. Now.”
Elena left.
I tried to sit up, but pain gripped my side. The monitor crackled as the straps shifted.
Vivienne pressed a gentle hand to my shoulder.
“Don’t move.”
“Tell me.”
May you like
She hesitated.
“Tell me,” I repeated.
