PART 3 — MY SISTER KNEW ABOUT MADISON
I stared at the signature.
My sister's name.
Rachel Carter.
For several seconds, I couldn't speak.
Rachel was the person I had trusted most after my husband.
She had babysat Madison countless times.
She had keys to our house.
She knew every detail about our family.
And according to the hospital records, she had taken Madison to a clinic six months ago.
Without telling me.
Without telling Daniel.
I looked at my husband.
“Did you know about this?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“Then why did you say you suspected someone was hurting her?”
He looked away.
“Because Rachel warned me.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“She came to me two months ago.”
“Why?”
“She told me Madison had been complaining about pain.”
I stared at him.
“You knew?”
“I knew she wasn't feeling well.”
“And you still told me she was exaggerating.”
His eyes filled with regret.
“I was wrong.”
I wanted to scream at him.
But before I could, the doctor interrupted.
“There is something else.”
He pointed toward the medical record.
“Rachel didn't just bring Madison to the clinic.”
“What else did she do?”
“She requested specific tests.”
My stomach tightened.
“Which tests?”
The doctor hesitated.
“Genetic testing.”
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“Why would my sister request genetic testing on my daughter?”
“We don't know.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Did she receive the results?”
The doctor nodded.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
Silence.
I suddenly remembered Rachel's strange behavior.
The questions.
The phone calls.
The way she had started asking Madison about her health.
I had thought she was being caring.
Maybe she wasn't.
Maybe she had been investigating her.
My phone rang.
Rachel.
I stared at the screen.
Daniel whispered:
“Don't answer.”
But I did.
“Rachel?”
There was silence.
Then her voice.
“Sarah.”
Her voice sounded frightened.
“Where are you?”
I didn't answer.
She continued.
“Is Madison with you?”
“How do you know?”
Another silence.
Then she whispered:
“Because I know what's happening.”
My heart began pounding.
“What did you do to my daughter?”
“I didn't hurt her.”
“Then why did you take her to a clinic without telling me?”
“I was trying to save her.”
“From what?”
Rachel started crying.
“From our father.”
I froze.
Our father had been dead for eight years.
“What are you talking about?”
“He isn't dead.”
The phone nearly slipped from my hand.
Daniel looked at me.
“What did she say?”
I put the call on speaker.
Rachel's voice shook.
“Dad faked his death.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Why?”
“Because he was involved in something dangerous.”
“What does that have to do with Madison?”
Rachel hesitated.
“She inherited something from him.”
“What?”
“I don't know exactly.”
“Rachel!”
“I only know that people have been looking for her.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Who?”
Rachel whispered:
“The people who worked for Dad.”
My heart raced.
“Why would they want Madison?”
“Because she has something they need.”
“What?”
Rachel began crying harder.
“I don't know.”
Then suddenly her voice dropped.
“Sarah, listen to me.”
“What?”
“Don't trust Daniel.”
The line went dead.
I slowly lowered the phone.
Daniel stared at me.
“Sarah…”
I stepped backward.
“What did she mean?”
“I don't know.”
“Rachel said not to trust you.”
“Because she's lying.”
“How do you know?”
“Because she's been manipulating you for years.”
The doctor watched us silently.
Then he looked at the evidence bag.
“Mrs. Carter…”
I turned.
“We received another lab result.”
He handed me the paper.
I read it.
Then read it again.
I couldn't understand it.
“What's wrong?”
The doctor looked at Madison's chart.
“The substance found in her system doesn't match her father's medication.”
I looked at Daniel.
“Then what is it?”
The doctor lowered his voice.
“It appears to be a compound designed to suppress a specific genetic marker.”
My hands began shaking.
“Why would someone do that?”
He didn't answer.
Instead, he asked:
“Has anyone in your family ever undergone genetic testing?”
I thought of Rachel.
Then my father.
Then Madison.
And suddenly I remembered something from years ago.
A secret conversation between my father and Rachel.
They had stopped talking when I entered the room.
I had assumed they were discussing money.
Maybe they weren't.
My phone vibrated again.
This time, it wasn't Rachel.
It was an unknown number.
A message appeared.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO YOUR HUSBAND.
Then another.
YOUR DAUGHTER ISN'T THE TARGET.
My heart stopped.
A third message appeared.
YOU ARE.
Before I could react, the hospital lights flickered.
Madison's heart monitor suddenly began beeping rapidly.
The doctor rushed into the room.
“Madison!”
I ran after him.
My daughter was awake.
Her eyes were wide with terror.
She grabbed my hand.
“Mom…”
“I'm here.”
She looked past me.
Toward the hallway.
Then whispered:
“He found me.”
“Who?”
Her lips trembled.
“The man from Dad's photograph.”
I looked at Daniel.
He had gone completely pale.
“What photograph?” I asked.
He didn't answer.
Madison squeezed my hand harder.
Then she whispered something that made my entire body go cold.
“He's the reason Dad told me never to trust Aunt Rachel.”
The hospital door suddenly opened.
A tall man in a dark coat stood outside.
He looked directly at Daniel.
Then at me.
And smiled.
“I think it's time you finally learned what your husband has been hiding.”
He stepped inside.
Daniel immediately moved in front of us.
The stranger calmly placed an old photograph on the table.
I looked down.
It showed my father.
Rachel.
Daniel.
And a fourth person.
Someone I had never seen before.
On the back of the photograph was a handwritten sentence:
“THE GIRL MUST NEVER KNOW WHO HER REAL FATHER IS.”
I looked at Madison.
Then at Daniel.
And suddenly, the question I had been avoiding became impossible to ignore.
Who was Madison's real father?
