Chapter 19 - THE FINAL SECRET
Detective Ortiz obtained the original newborn screening.
Park read it twice.
“Julia.”
“What?”
“Daniel was not Evelyn’s biological son.”
“So she erased Thomas,” Julia whispered.
Park nodded.
“His records were the first proof.”
“And the trust?”
“Daniel’s father had rewritten it privately because he knew the truth and considered Daniel his son regardless.”
Julia understood at last.
Thomas listened from the doorway.
“So I’m not a Mercer?”
Julia turned.
“You are Thomas.”
He frowned.
“That didn’t answer me.”
Julia walked to him.
“You are Daniel’s son.”
“You are my son.”
“You are Emily’s brother.”
She touched his cheek.
“Anything else is paperwork.”
Thomas thought for a moment.
Then nodded.
“I like that.”
Federal prosecutors announced charges that afternoon.
Grant agreed to cooperate.
Rebecca entered a plea.
Diane agreed to testify against the remaining hospital executives.
Arthur Voss was charged with attempted murder, kidnapping-related conspiracy, fraud, and obstruction.
But one question remained.
What should happen to the eighteen million dollars in Thomas’s trust?
“I don’t want it.”
Julia knelt beside him.
“You don’t have to decide now.”
“I know.”
He looked at the list of fourteen children.
“Can we use it to find them?”
Julia’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
Thomas looked at Emily.
She smiled.
Then he said, “Okay.”
A week later, Ortiz called.
They had found the first missing child.
May you like
Alive.
And she had been searching for her mother too.
