Chapter 6 - The Photograph of Someone Else’s Baby
The newborn in Valerie’s arms was wrapped in a pale green blanket embroidered with tiny silver stars.
Leo’s hospital blanket had been blue.
Andrea remembered because her father had complained that every photograph made the fabric look purple.
The baby in Valerie’s picture was not Leo.
Rebecca sent the image to a forensic photographer.
The printed date had been digitally added.
The original picture was older.
At the edge of the frame, a nurse’s uniform carried the logo of St. Matthew’s Women’s Clinic, a private facility that had closed seven years earlier.
Valerie had once worked there.
Her employment record listed her as a patient-services coordinator.
She had access to maternity forms, patient identifiers and notary services.
Andrea’s fear sharpened into understanding.
Valerie had not been chosen randomly.
She possessed the knowledge needed to create false records.
Rebecca began investigating Valerie’s past.
Meanwhile, Andrea installed a second security camera inside her office.
The visible camera above the door was connected to the house system, which Marco controlled.
The hidden camera sat behind a decorative vent and transmitted footage directly to an encrypted cloud account.
Only Andrea, Rebecca and Rosa knew about it.
Rosa Martinez had managed the Whitmore household since Andrea was a teenager. She had held Leo minutes after he came home from the hospital.
When Andrea explained what was happening, Rosa’s eyes filled with anger.
“Mr. Marco has been asking which staff members were here when Leo was born.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That every person in this house remembers you returning with stitches across your stomach and that baby in your arms.”
Andrea almost cried.
Rosa took her hand.
“You are not alone.”
They began documenting everything.
Valerie’s keycard access.
Marco’s payments.
Changes to Leo’s medical portal.
Attempts to reschedule Andrea’s meetings with the trust board.
Then Marco announced that Rosa was being dismissed.
He claimed she had stolen jewelry.
Andrea knew the accusation was false.
But Marco had already placed two watches inside Rosa’s room and called private security.
Rosa refused to beg.
As she left with one suitcase, she hugged Leo tightly.
Then she whispered something into his ear.
Marco watched from the doorway.
“What did she say?”
Leo shook his head.
“It’s a secret.”
Marco’s expression darkened.
Before Rosa entered the car, she looked back at Andrea.
“Keep the old photograph close,” she said.
Andrea did not understand what she meant.
May you like
Not yet.
👉 Marco forced Rosa out of the house, but she had already chosen the one person he would never suspect of carrying evidence: his five-year-old son.
