PART 3 — THE CHILD HE STOLE FROM ME
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
The message on Reid's phone seemed to burn itself into my mind.
SHE KNOWS THE CHILD IS ALIVE.
Not a child.
Not your child.
The child.
My child.
The child Reid had somehow convinced me I had lost.
I stared at him.
“Where is my baby?”
Reid's jaw tightened.
“You're misunderstanding the situation.”
I laughed.
It was a strange sound.
Almost empty.
“Am I?”
I stepped toward him.
“You just received a message saying someone knows the child is alive.”
“That's not what it means.”
“Then explain it.”
He didn't.
I turned toward Dr. Carter.
“Evelyn, what happened to my pregnancy?”
She looked at Reid.
Then back at me.
“I wasn't the doctor who delivered you.”
“Who was?”
She hesitated.
“Dr. Marcus Vale.”
My stomach dropped.
“That's why he called?”
Evelyn nodded.
“He was the specialist who supervised the final stage of your treatment.”
I looked at Reid.
“You told me Marcus retired.”
“He left the practice.”
“That isn't the same thing.”
Reid said nothing.
I moved closer.
“Where is my child?”
His voice became cold.
“Stop asking questions you don't understand.”
I stared at him.
Then I smiled.
“That's funny.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You spent four years telling me I didn't understand my own body.”
I pointed toward the door.
“And now you're going to tell me I don't understand my own child?”
Camille suddenly spoke.
“Reid.”
He turned toward her.
She was holding Ethan against her chest.
Her face had changed.
The jealousy.
The smugness.
The confidence.
All gone.
She looked terrified.
“You said Ethan was your son.”
“He is.”
“But the doctor said—”
“I said he is my son!”
Ethan began crying.
Camille flinched.
Reid immediately lowered his voice.
“Don't make this worse.”
Camille stared at him.
“You're the one making it worse.”
I looked at her.
For once, she wasn't looking at me like an enemy.
She was looking at me like a woman who had just realized she had been standing inside someone else's lie.
“Camille,” I said.
She looked at me.
“Where did Ethan come from?”
Her lips parted.
“I already told you.”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“You told me what Reid told you.”
She shook her head.
“That's not true.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I was told the baby was Reid's.”
“By whom?”
Silence.
I waited.
Finally, Camille whispered,
“Marcus Vale.”
The room went still.
Evelyn's expression changed.
“Marcus told you?”
Camille nodded.
“After the divorce.”
My heart began pounding.
“What did he say?”
Camille looked at Reid.
He shook his head.
“Don't.”
She ignored him.
“He said Reid needed a child quickly.”
My blood ran cold.
“Quickly?”
Camille nodded.
“He said Reid's family had already started questioning why he hadn't produced an heir.”
I stared at Reid.
An heir.
Not a child.
An heir.
That word suddenly explained everything.
The company.
The foundation.
The house.
The divorce.
The lies.
I whispered,
“You didn't leave me because you wanted a family.”
Reid didn't answer.
“You left me because you needed an heir.”
His silence was the answer.
Camille looked at him.
“Reid?”
He finally spoke.
“You don't understand what was at stake.”
I laughed.
“What was at stake?”
I pointed at myself.
“My marriage?”
I pointed at Camille.
“Her reputation?”
Then I pointed toward Ethan.
“His identity?”
My voice rose.
“You destroyed all three because of a company?”
Reid's eyes hardened.
“Everything I built was going to disappear.”
I froze.
“What?”
He looked at me.
“My grandfather's trust.”
I stared at him.
He continued.
“The Halbrook family trust had one condition.”
“What condition?”
He swallowed.
“The controlling shares of Halbrook Holdings could only pass to a biological descendant.”
The room went silent.
Suddenly everything made sense.
Reid hadn't needed a wife.
He needed a child.
And when he thought I couldn't give him one...
he replaced me.
I whispered,
“So Camille was just a replacement.”
Camille looked at Reid.
He didn't deny it.
Her face crumpled.
“You said you loved me.”
Reid looked irritated.
“Camille, don't do this now.”
Her eyes widened.
“Don't do what?”
She laughed through tears.
“Ask what I was worth to you?”
“Camille—”
“You gave me her earrings.”
She touched the pearls around her neck.
“You told me they were a gift.”
I stared at the earrings.
Reid looked away.
Camille slowly removed them.
“They weren't a gift.”
She dropped them onto the table.
“They were another thing you took from her.”
I said nothing.
Because something inside me had already changed.
The pain was still there.
But it no longer controlled me.
I looked at Reid.
“Where is my child?”
He stared at me.
“I don't know.”
“Liar.”
“I don't.”
“Then why did that message scare you?”
He said nothing.
I walked toward him.
“You knew my baby was alive.”
“No.”
“Then why did Marcus Vale just text you?”
His face tightened.
I held out my hand.
“Give me your phone.”
He laughed.
“No.”
I smiled.
“Fine.”
I pulled out my own phone.
Then I made a call.
Reid's expression changed when he realized who I was calling.
“Don't.”
I put the phone to my ear.
It rang once.
Twice.
Then someone answered.
A man's voice came through.
“Hello?”
I said,
“Dr. Vale?”
Reid lunged toward me.
Evelyn stepped between us.
“Don't touch her.”
Reid stopped.
I kept the phone against my ear.
“Dr. Vale, this is Amelia.”
There was silence.
Then his voice changed.
“Amelia?”
“Yes.”
Another silence.
“Where are you?”
“Mercy Harbor Medical Center.”
His breathing became audible.
“Are you with Reid?”
“Yes.”
I watched my ex-husband.
His face was now completely white.
Dr. Vale said quietly,
“Then you need to leave that room immediately.”
My heart stopped.
“Why?”
“Because if Reid knows you're talking to me, you're in danger.”
Evelyn's eyes widened.
I looked at Reid.
He was staring at me.
Not angrily.
Fearfully.
I asked,
“Where is my child?”
Dr. Vale didn't answer.
“Dr. Vale.”
“Amelia, listen carefully.”
“I've listened to lies for a year.”
My voice broke.
“I'm done listening.”
His voice softened.
“Your child is alive.”
My knees nearly gave out.
Camille covered her mouth.
Evelyn closed her eyes.
I gripped the edge of the table.
“Where?”
Dr. Vale hesitated.
Then he said:
“She's in this hospital.”
I couldn't breathe.
A daughter.
A girl.
I had a daughter.
I looked at Reid.
He looked like he'd seen a ghost.
“She?”
Dr. Vale whispered,
“Yes.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“What's her name?”
Another pause.
Then:
“Her name is Lily.”
The name struck me like lightning.
Lily.
I had chosen that name years ago.
Reid and I had once sat in our backyard beneath the old apple tree and talked about what we would name our children.
If we had a girl, I wanted Lily.
Reid had laughed.
“You've already decided?”
I had said yes.
And he had kissed my forehead.
I never imagined that one day he would steal that dream from me.
“Where is she?” I whispered.
Dr. Vale answered:
“Pediatric intensive care.”
My heart shattered.
“Why?”
“Because she was born prematurely.”
I covered my mouth.
“How premature?”
“Thirty-one weeks.”
The room disappeared around me.
I heard nothing except my own heartbeat.
My daughter had been born.
Alive.
Fighting.
And I had spent a year believing she never existed.
I turned toward Reid.
“You knew.”
He shook his head.
“I didn't know she was still alive.”
“Stop lying!”
My scream echoed through the room.
Ethan started crying again.
Camille began sobbing.
Reid looked at me.
“I was told she died.”
“Who told you?”
He didn't answer.
“WHO?”
His eyes moved toward Camille.
I froze.
Camille stared at him.
“What?”
Reid immediately said,
“Nothing.”
I looked at Camille.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Camille, did you know about my daughter?”
“No!”
Her voice cracked.
“I swear to God, I didn't!”
I believed her.
And that scared me.
Because if Camille hadn't known...
then who had?
Suddenly Evelyn's phone rang.
She looked at the screen.
Her face changed.
“What?”
I asked.
She didn't answer.
She listened.
Then she said:
“I'm sorry. What room?”
My heart began pounding.
Evelyn ended the call.
I grabbed her arm.
“What happened?”
She stared at me.
“Lily's room.”
“What about her?”
“She was moved.”
“Moved where?”
Evelyn swallowed.
“She was discharged.”
My heart stopped.
“That isn't possible.”
“She was transferred under a private medical authorization.”
“Where?”
Evelyn looked at Reid.
And I knew.
Before she even spoke.
“Who authorized it?”
Her voice was barely audible.
“Reid Halbrook.”
I turned.
Reid was already moving toward the door.
I ran after him.
“REID!”
He stopped.
I grabbed his arm.
“Where is my daughter?”
He ripped his arm away.
“I told you, I didn't know she survived.”
“Then why did you authorize her discharge?”
His face changed.
For the first time, I saw something I had never seen in him before.
Panic.
Pure panic.
I stepped closer.
“Where is Lily?”
He whispered,
“I don't know.”
Then his phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
I saw the name.
MARCUS VALE.
This time Reid answered.
“Where is she?”
I froze.
Reid's face became rigid.
“What do you mean you took her?”
My blood went cold.
He listened.
Then his eyes slowly lifted toward me.
“She's not there?”
My heart stopped.
He ended the call.
I stared at him.
“Where is my daughter?”
Reid didn't answer.
I grabbed his jacket.
“WHERE IS SHE?”
He looked at me.
And whispered something that made my entire world collapse:
“Someone took her.”
Before I could respond, the hospital's emergency alarm suddenly began screaming.
Red lights flashed through the corridor.
Nurses rushed past us.
Then a security guard came running toward the maternity wing.
“Mr. Halbrook!”
Reid turned.
“What?”
The guard's face was pale.
“We have a problem.”
“What problem?”
“The security footage from the pediatric floor has been accessed.”
Reid went still.
“By whom?”
The guard swallowed.
“We don't know.”
I stepped forward.
“What did they access?”
The guard looked at me.
“The footage from the night your daughter was born.”
My blood turned cold.
“Why?”
The guard hesitated.
Then he said:
“Because someone just downloaded the entire recording.”
I looked at Reid.
He looked at me.
And suddenly I understood.
Someone wasn't trying to hide Lily anymore.
Someone wanted me to see exactly what happened to my daughter.
And whoever had stolen that footage...
had left one final message on the hospital server.
The guard pulled up the message.
There were only seven words.
ASK REID WHO THE REAL FATHER IS.
I slowly turned toward my ex-husband.
And this time...
he couldn't run.
