Chapter 2 - NOT YOUR MOTHER
"What do you mean?"
Evelyn reached for the report.
Rachel pulled it away first.
"No."
"This is family business."
"You put your hand in my baby's hair. You lost the right to define family."
Then at his own hand.
"Rachel—"
"Don't."
Maddie buried her face against Rachel's shoulder.
That ended whatever apology he thought he was about to make.
"Where are you going?"
"A doctor."
"For what?"
"Your mother shoved our daughter's face into a cake, and you hit me while I was holding her."
His face tightened.
"I didn't see—"
"Exactly."
At the emergency clinic, a pediatrician checked Maddie's scalp, eyes, nose, and lungs.
No aspiration.
No serious injury.
But the doctor photographed redness along Maddie's hairline.
"Do you feel safe going home?"
Six years of marriage reduced to one question.
"No."
By dinner, Rachel and Maddie were in a hotel suite registered under Nora's firm.
At the Bennett estate, Grant demanded answers.
"Tell me."
"You are my son."
"Biologically?"
Silence.
Grant threw the report onto the table.
"Biologically?"
"No."
The word landed harder than Rachel's slap had.
Grant sank into a chair.
"Who is my mother?"
Evelyn's eyes hardened.
"That woman doesn't matter."
"To you."
"To anyone."
"My father knew?"
That was answer enough.
"Where are my birth records?"
"Destroyed."
"Why?"
"Because thirty-seven years ago, I made a decision to save this family."
May you like
"From what?"
"From the woman who gave birth to you."
