Chapter 3: The Child That Was Split in Two
The restaurant manager waded through the heavy silence, approaching with hesitant steps.
“Ma’am… there is something outside. A man asking for her.”
Emily turned toward the glass entrance.
Idling at the curb was a sleek black sedan. A grey-haired man stepped out, his eyes sweeping through the window until they locked onto Emily. He froze instantly.
“Impossible…” he whispered.
It was Dr. Harris—the very physician who had delivered Eleanor’s baby all those years ago.
Before he could take another step inside, Eleanor surged forward and seized his coat collar. “You told me she died!”
The doctor’s complexion drained of all color. “I didn’t say that.”
Richard interjected, his voice cutting through like a razor. “You signed the certificate!”
Dr. Harris shook his head, his hands trembling as he pulled away. “It was altered after I left the hospital.”
The air in the room grew suffocating as the dark mystery began to unspool.
“There were two babies,” Dr. Harris confessed quietly.
Eleanor staggered backward, the world spinning beneath her feet.
Emily blinked, her hands shaking. “What?”
“Twins,” Dr. Harris continued, his voice breaking under the weight of the secret.
Eleanor’s breath caught in her throat. “No… I only gave birth to one child.”
Beside her, Richard abruptly averted his eyes, staring at the floor in guilty silence.
That was the sickening answer.
He had never corrected her—because acknowledging the truth meant confessing to the unthinkable act that followed.
He had taken one twin for their perfect, wealthy family.
And discarded the other to the shadows.
