## CHAPTER 13 — MY FATHER’S SECRET
Daniel ran after the man.
Federal agents searched every room, corridor, and exit.
They found no one.
The gray-coated man had vanished from a section of the hospital with only one functioning elevator.
But he left the bracelet behind.
It had the same birth date as mine.
The name field was blank.
My father refused to discuss it until we returned to the safe house.
I placed the bracelet on the table between us.
“Tell me what happened that night.”
He stared at it.
“Sofia called me shortly after midnight. She said your mother was in danger.”
“What kind of danger?”
“She had stolen records from the people running Santa Aurelia.”
“The registry she mentioned.”
“Yes.”
“When you arrived, was I alone?”
“No.”
My heart stopped.
My father looked away.
“There were two bassinets in the room.”
“Two babies?”
“Yes.”
“Were we twins?”
“I didn’t know. One child was crying. The other was completely still.”
I pressed a hand against my mouth.
“Sofia gave me the crying baby.”
“Me.”
“I believed so.”
“You believed?”
“There were no names on the bassinets. Only letters.”
A and B.
“What happened to the other baby?”
“Sofia told me she would take care of her.”
“Why didn’t you take both?”
“She said only one child could leave with me. People were already searching the building.”
“You left a baby behind.”
“I made a decision in seconds.”
“You chose me.”
“I chose the child Sofia placed in my arms.”
His words shattered something inside me.
For my entire life, I had believed my father recognized me.
That he knew I was his daughter.
But he had left the hospital carrying an infant whose identity he could not confirm.
“Did you ever test my DNA?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“When you were six months old.”
“And?”
He did not answer quickly enough.
I stood.
“Am I your daughter?”
“You are my daughter.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
He removed a folded paper from his wallet.
The edges were worn.
He had carried it for years.
It was a laboratory report.
The result showed no biological relationship.
I read it twice.
Then a third time.
My father’s voice broke.
“I did not care what the test said.”
“You knew.”
“I loved you from the moment I held you.”
“You knew I wasn’t yours.”
“I knew you were a child whose mother had trusted me to protect her.”
“What if she wasn’t my mother either?”
“She was.”
“How can you know?”
“Because she left a second test.”
He placed another document on the table.
The test confirmed that the woman in the hospital photograph was my biological mother.
But the father’s section had been removed.
“Who was my biological father?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying again.”
“I’m not.”
“You built my entire life around secrets.”
“I built it around keeping you alive.”
Daniel entered before I could respond.
He had received an emergency notice from the prison.
Santiago and Beatriz were being transferred to another facility for an appeal hearing.
The transfer order had been signed by a judge whose name appeared on the microfilm.
“When?” my father asked.
Daniel looked at his watch.
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“Stop the convoy.”
“I’ve tried. No one is responding.”
A television mounted on the wall interrupted with breaking news.
Live footage showed smoke rising from a highway.
A prison transport vehicle had crashed beneath an overpass.
The reporter announced that two prisoners were missing.
Santiago.
And Beatriz.
Then the camera moved toward the wreckage.
On the side of the overturned transport van, someone had painted a large gray letter.
May you like
A
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