Chapter 3 - The Woman Behind The Name
"Rebecca."
My mother's voice was barely louder than a whisper.
But that name hit me harder than anything else that had happened in that hospital room.
I stared at her.
"Who is Rebecca?"
Nobody answered.
Daniel looked away.
Claire started crying.
And my mother...
My mother looked like she had just watched a ghost walk through the door.
I pushed myself higher against the hospital pillows.
The pain from the surgery was still there.
But it didn't matter anymore.
There was a different kind of pain now.
The kind that came from realizing your entire life might have been built on a lie.
"Mom."
My voice shook.
"I asked you a question."
She looked at me.
For a second, I saw the woman who raised me.
The woman who held me when I was sick.
The woman who told me I could trust family.
Then that image disappeared.
Because the woman standing in front of me now was someone who had been hiding something.
"Rebecca was someone from the past," she finally said.
I laughed quietly.
"The past?"
I looked at the blue folder on the table.
"The past that somehow appears on my medical report eighteen years later?"
My mother looked uncomfortable.
Daniel stepped closer.
"Emma, you need to calm down."
I turned toward him.
Those words.
Those same words.
People always used them when they wanted me to stop asking questions.
"Calm down?"
I stared at him.
"My husband brought divorce papers to my hospital bed."
My voice grew stronger.
"My sister's daughter called you her father."
"My mother admitted she knows a woman connected to my DNA."
I pointed toward the door.
"And you're telling me to calm down?"
Daniel said nothing.
Because he knew.
There was no excuse left.
Dr. Morgan placed the report back inside the folder.
"Emma, I think you deserve the complete truth."
I nodded.
"Finally."
The doctor looked at Claire.
"Was Lily born eighteen years ago?"
Claire froze.
Then she slowly nodded.
"Yes."
"Was the birth record altered?"
Claire looked at the floor.
"I..."
My heart sank.
"You did alter it?"
She started crying.
"No."
Then she looked at my mother.
"She did."
The room became silent.
My mother closed her eyes.
I felt something break inside me.
Not because Claire admitted it.
Because my mother didn't deny it.
"Why?"
I whispered.
"Why would you do that?"
My mother walked toward the window.
Her back was facing me.
"I was protecting you."
I stared at her.
"Protecting me?"
She turned around.
"Yes."
I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"You lied about my sister's child."
"You hid medical records."
"You let me believe Lily was just my niece."
"And you let me destroy my own body to save her."
My voice cracked.
"How is that protecting me?"
My mother looked down.
"Because if you knew the truth eighteen years ago, you would have made a different choice."
I felt a chill.
"Eighteen years ago?"
I looked at Claire.
Then at Daniel.
Then back at my mother.
"What happened eighteen years ago?"
Nobody spoke.
And that silence told me everything.
There was a story nobody wanted me to hear.
A story where I was not the person I thought I was.
Dr. Morgan opened the folder again.
"There is something else."
I looked at her.
"Another surprise?"
She didn't react to my bitterness.
"There is a document attached from a private genetic consultant."
My eyebrows tightened.
"Why would someone do a private genetic test?"
The doctor looked at Daniel.
"Because someone suspected the official records were false."
Daniel's face changed.
"You knew?"
I looked at him.
"You knew about this?"
He shook his head quickly.
"No."
But his reaction was different.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
Like he had heard something before.
I noticed.
And so did Dr. Morgan.
"Mr. Carter."
Daniel looked at her.
"When did you first learn about Rebecca?"
He swallowed.
"I don't know anyone named Rebecca."
My mother suddenly spoke.
"Don't lie."
Everyone turned.
Daniel looked at her.
"What did you say?"
My mother's eyes filled with anger.
"You knew."
Daniel stepped back.
"Claire told me."
My heart stopped.
I looked at my sister.
"Claire?"
She covered her face.
"I didn't want this."
"No."
I shook my head.
"You don't get to say that."
I looked at her.
"You don't get to say you didn't want this after everyone decided my life for me."
Claire cried harder.
"I was scared."
"Of what?"
She didn't answer.
I waited.
Finally, she whispered:
"Of losing Lily."
The room became quiet.
I looked at the little girl.
She was sitting in the chair near the window.
Watching all of us.
Confused.
Afraid.
She was the only innocent person in the room.
I softened for a moment.
Then I looked back at Claire.
"You were afraid of losing her?"
Claire nodded.
"Because Rebecca wanted to take her."
My heart started racing.
"Who is Rebecca?"
Claire looked at my mother.
My mother looked away.
Then Claire said:
"Your biological mother."
I stopped breathing.
The words didn't make sense.
I stared at her.
"What?"
Claire's tears fell.
"Emma..."
"No."
I shook my head.
"No, don't say that."
My mother moved toward me.
"Emma, listen."
I pulled away.
"Don't touch me."
My voice broke.
"Everyone keeps telling me what I need to know."
I looked around the room.
"But nobody ever asked me if I wanted the truth."
Nobody spoke.
Because they knew I was right.
Dr. Morgan quietly closed the folder.
"I think we should continue this conversation when Emma is stronger."
"No."
I looked at her.
"I need to know now."
The doctor studied my face.
Then she nodded.
"Then you need to see the original file."
She reached inside the folder.
And pulled out a small envelope.
Not a copy.
Not a medical report.
An old envelope.
Yellowed with age.
My name was written on the front.
My hands started shaking.
"Where did you get that?"
My mother whispered.
Dr. Morgan looked at her.
"It was attached to the original records."
My mother went completely pale.
"What original records?"
The doctor looked at me.
"The ones that were hidden before you were adopted."
I felt like the entire room tilted.
Adopted.
That word stayed in my head.
I looked at my mother.
The woman who raised me.
The woman I called Mom.
"Tell me she is lying."
My mother didn't answer.
That was the answer.
I reached for the envelope.
My fingers trembled as I opened it.
Inside was one old photograph.
A baby wrapped in a white blanket.
A hospital bracelet.
And a handwritten note.
I picked it up.
The handwriting was shaky.
Only one sentence was written.
"Emma, if you are reading this, they failed to keep you away from the truth."
My heart raced.
At the bottom of the page was a signature.
Rebecca.
I looked at my mother.
"Why did you take me away from her?"
My mother's face changed.
She looked terrified.
Not guilty.
Terrified.
Then the hospital room door suddenly opened.
A woman stood outside.
A woman around my mother's age.
Silver hair.
Tired eyes.
Holding an old leather folder.
Everyone froze.
My mother whispered:
"No..."
The woman looked directly at me.
And said:
"Emma."
She stepped inside.
"I've been trying to find you for eighteen years."
May you like
Then she placed the folder on the table.
And the first page showed a photograph of me as a newborn... beside a name I had never seen before.
