Chapter 5 - The Record That Should Not Exist
Caleb laughed once.
The sound held no humor.
“My newborn record was at North River?”
Victor nodded.
“You were born there.”
“I know where I was born.”
“Do you know who signed your birth certificate?”
“My father.”
Victor glanced at the framed photograph on Margaret’s desk.
“Eleanor Carter’s husband signed many things.”
Margaret moved toward the desk and placed one hand beside the silver letter opener.
“Get out.”
Victor ignored her.
Caleb’s chest tightened.
“My father was Daniel Carter.”
“The man who raised you was Daniel Carter.”
The distinction struck harder than a direct accusation.
Caleb looked at Margaret.
She stared at Victor with open hatred.
“Say he’s lying.”
Margaret’s silence lengthened.
“Mom.”
“You are my son.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Victor stepped away from the door.
“The old genetic record was scheduled for digital transfer. Someone discovered it during a hospital database audit. The file showed that Daniel Carter could not have been Caleb’s biological father.”
Caleb’s mouth went dry.
“And Lena found it?”
“No,” Victor said. “Lena found evidence that someone had accessed the oxygen-control room using an executive override.”
“Whose override?”
Victor looked at Margaret.
Caleb followed his gaze.
Margaret’s fingers pressed against the desk.
“This is absurd,” she said.
“Was it yours?”
“I donated millions to that hospital. My credentials opened administrative areas.”
“Did you enter Room 814?”
“No.”
“Did you order the fire?”
“No.”
“Did you hire Victor to remove the camera?”
“I hired him to protect this family from a false accusation.”
Victor let out a quiet breath.
Margaret turned on him.
“You assured me nothing could be traced.”
“I assured you the footage would disappear from the hospital system.”
“Then why does a copy exist?”
“Because I’m not stupid.”
Caleb took the gray file and backed away from both of them.
The room felt contaminated.
Every photograph, every polished surface, every childhood memory seemed connected to a lie he could not yet see.
“Who is my biological father?”
Margaret’s face tightened.
“Daniel was your father in every way that mattered.”
“Who?”
She looked toward the portrait.
“Someone who has been dead for years.”
“Name him.”
“No.”
Caleb’s disbelief turned to anger.
“You let me abandon my pregnant wife to protect this secret?”
“I protected you from scandal.”
“You framed Lena.”
“I did not frame her.”
“You paid the man who did.”
“I gave you information because you deserved to know what kind of woman you had married.”
“The kind who ran into a burning hospital and saved twenty-seven people?”
Margaret’s eyes flashed.
“You don’t know what she did.”
“Then tell me.”
Margaret hesitated.
Victor watched her carefully.
“She stole blood samples,” Margaret said.
Caleb frowned.
“What?”
“After the fire, Lena accessed the laboratory and removed sealed samples connected to the old maternity ward.”
“Why?”
“Because she wanted leverage.”
Victor shook his head.
“That wasn’t in our agreement.”
Margaret’s voice sharpened.
“You were not involved in everything.”
Victor’s expression changed.
A new wariness entered his eyes.
Caleb noticed it.
“You knew about the record,” he said to Victor, “but not the samples.”
“No.”
“Then there was someone else.”
Margaret said nothing.
Caleb’s phone vibrated again.
A message appeared from the unknown number.
VICTOR IS LYING ABOUT THE DRIVE.
He looked at Victor.
A second message arrived.
HE SOLD THE ORIGINAL SIX MONTHS AGO.
Caleb turned the screen toward him.
Victor’s face remained neutral, but a pulse jumped beside his scar.
“Who bought it?” Caleb demanded.
Victor did not answer.
Margaret came around the desk.
“Victor?”
The confidence left her voice.
He reached for the doorknob.
Caleb blocked him.
“Who has the footage?”
May you like
Victor’s gaze moved from Caleb to Margaret.
Then he said, “The man whose blood matches yours.”
