Chapter 5 — The Missing Medical File
The phone went dead.
Marcus kept it against his ear for several seconds, listening to nothing.
Then he slowly lowered it.
Elena was staring at him.
“Who was it?”
“I don't know.”
“What did they say?”
Marcus looked at the photograph on the laboratory wall.
Dr. Eleanor Hayes.
Standing beside the little boy.
Alive.
Even though the Moretti family had been told she died four years ago.
“He said we finally found the boy.”
Elena's face tightened.
“Then he knows where he is.”
“Yes.”
“Who was the woman beside him?”
Marcus hesitated.
“You know her.”
Elena looked at the photograph again.
Recognition slowly replaced confusion.
“Dr. Hayes.”
Marcus nodded.
“She treated me during my first pregnancy.”
“She treated everyone in the family.”
Elena stared at the picture.
“Victoria said she died.”
“So did everyone else.”
“But she's alive.”
“Apparently.”
Elena stepped closer to the photograph.
“When was this taken?”
Marcus checked the corner.
“Four years ago.”
She shook her head.
“That can't be.”
“Why?”
“Because four years ago, I was told she was dead.”
Marcus's eyes narrowed.
“Who told you?”
“Victoria.”
There was another silence.
Then Elena whispered:
“What if she never died?”
Marcus looked at her.
“What if she helped Victoria?”
Elena shook her head.
“No.”
“You're sure?”
“She saved my life.”
“Five years ago?”
“Yes.”
Marcus remembered the recording.
Dr. Hayes had documented Elena's first pregnancy.
She had tried to expose Victoria.
Then she supposedly died.
Now she was standing beside the child.
Something didn't fit.
Marcus walked toward the laboratory computer.
“We need every file involving Hayes.”
He searched.
Nothing.
The folder had been deleted.
He searched backups.
Nothing.
Then Elena noticed something.
“Wait.”
She pointed at the screen.
A file name flashed briefly before disappearing.
EH-17
Marcus stopped.
“Did you see that?”
“Yes.”
He searched again.
The file was gone.
“Someone is deleting files remotely.”
Marcus immediately disconnected the computer from the network.
The screen went black.
Then a single sentence appeared.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE PAST BURIED.
Elena grabbed his arm.
“Marcus.”
He looked at her.
A second message appeared.
NOW VICTORIA WILL KNOW YOU REMEMBER.
They returned upstairs before dawn.
Neither spoke during the entire walk.
The estate felt different now.
Every hallway seemed watched.
Every door seemed capable of hiding someone.
When they reached their bedroom, Marcus locked the door.
Then the windows.
Then the balcony.
Elena sat on the bed.
“Tell me everything.”
Marcus looked at her.
“Everything?”
“Yes.”
“You may not like it.”
“I already don't like any of it.”
He sat beside her.
“I found a medical report.”
“What kind?”
“Your first pregnancy.”
Elena closed her eyes.
“I remember.”
“The report says the pregnancy was viable.”
“I know.”
“It also says someone deliberately gave you medication.”
Elena opened her eyes.
“Victoria.”
“Probably.”
“Probably?”
“We need proof.”
Marcus handed her the document.
Elena read it.
Her hands began shaking.
“She lied.”
“Yes.”
“She told me my baby was dead.”
“I know.”
“She made me believe I was losing my mind.”
Marcus nodded.
“And now?”
Elena looked at him.
“Now I know she wanted me to forget.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“The file says you were pregnant again.”
Elena frowned.
“I am pregnant now.”
“No.”
He pointed to the date.
“Five years ago.”
Elena stared at the document.
Then slowly looked up.
“I don't remember being pregnant five years ago.”
“You gave birth.”
Her face went completely blank.
“What?”
“You gave birth to a boy.”
Elena covered her mouth.
Marcus's voice broke.
“We have a son.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“Where is he?”
“We don't know.”
“Then find him.”
“I will.”
“Today.”
“I will.”
She grabbed his shirt.
“Marcus, I want my son.”
He pulled her into his arms.
“I know.”
“I want to hold him.”
“I know.”
“I want to know his name.”
“We'll find out.”
“And I want to know why everyone lied.”
Marcus held her tighter.
“So do I.”
At seven in the morning, Marcus called Daniel Cross.
“I'm sending you a photograph.”
Daniel answered immediately.
“Send it.”
Marcus did.
There was a long pause.
“Where did you get this?”
“Basement laboratory.”
“That's Dr. Hayes.”
“I know.”
“I thought she was dead.”
“So did I.”
Daniel's voice became serious.
“Then we have a bigger problem.”
“Why?”
“Because I checked her death certificate last night.”
Marcus froze.
“And?”
“It was issued by the Moretti family physician.”
Marcus looked toward Elena.
“Who?”
Daniel paused.
“Dr. Samuel Grant.”
Marcus's face changed.
Grant was Victoria's personal physician.
The same doctor who had been treating Elena since her pregnancy began.
Marcus stood.
“Find him.”
“I already did.”
“And?”
“He's gone.”
Marcus's jaw tightened.
“Since when?”
“Last night.”
The same night as the laboratory.
Daniel continued.
“His house was emptied.”
“Completely?”
“Almost.”
“What did he leave?”
“A locked medical cabinet.”
Marcus looked at Elena.
“Where?”
“His private clinic.”
“I'll meet you there.”
The clinic had been abandoned in a hurry.
Medicine bottles remained on shelves.
A half-eaten sandwich sat beside a computer.
A coat hung behind the door.
Daniel stood in the center of the examination room.
“Someone left quickly.”
Marcus looked around.
“Where's the cabinet?”
Daniel pointed.
“Behind that wall.”
They moved the bookshelf.
A steel cabinet appeared.
Locked.
Marcus examined it.
“Can you open it?”
Daniel smiled.
“That's why you hired me.”
Five minutes later, it opened.
Inside were patient files.
Hundreds.
Marcus searched for Elena's name.
Nothing.
He searched again.
Nothing.
Daniel frowned.
“Someone removed her file.”
Marcus stared at the empty space.
Then Daniel found a second compartment.
Inside was a small envelope.
The label read:
E. MORETTI — DO NOT FILE
Marcus opened it.
Inside was a handwritten medical note.
Patient was administered compound V-17 under Victoria's instruction.
Marcus's heart stopped.
Another line:
Patient displayed memory disturbances within fourteen days.
Another:
Objective appears to be psychological destabilization.
Marcus looked at Daniel.
“This is it.”
Daniel nodded.
“Not enough.”
“What?”
“We need to prove Victoria ordered it.”
Marcus turned the page.
There was a signature.
Victoria Moretti.
His eyes hardened.
Daniel took photographs of every page.
Then he noticed something else.
A date.
Five years ago.
And beside it:
Delivery of infant transferred to private guardian.
Marcus's hands went cold.
“Private guardian?”
Daniel read the next line.
“Guardian: Eleanor Hayes.”
Marcus stared.
“Hayes took the child.”
“Apparently.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked at him.
“Maybe she was protecting him.”
Marcus's jaw tightened.
“Or hiding him.”
They found the second file in the basement of the clinic.
It contained photographs.
Dozens.
The child at six months.
One year.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Marcus stared at every photograph.
His son was growing up.
Learning to walk.
Laughing.
Holding toys.
Standing beside a Christmas tree.
Riding a bicycle.
Every year had been documented.
Every year Marcus had missed.
Elena entered the room.
The moment she saw the photographs, she stopped.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
“Oh my God.”
Marcus turned.
“These are him.”
Elena approached slowly.
She touched one photograph.
The boy was laughing.
“He has your smile.”
Marcus couldn't answer.
She picked up another.
The boy was holding a stuffed rabbit.
“I gave him this.”
Marcus looked at her.
“You remember?”
“I don't know.”
She touched her temple.
“I don't remember giving it to him.”
Daniel stepped back, giving them privacy.
Elena sank into a chair.
“He grew up without us.”
Marcus sat beside her.
“We'll bring him home.”
“What if he doesn't know me?”
“He will.”
“What if he hates me?”
“He won't.”
“How can you know?”
Marcus looked at the photograph.
“Because he spent five years waiting for someone to tell him who we were.”
Elena began to cry.
Then she noticed something.
A photograph from the boy's fifth birthday.
He was standing beside a cake.
Behind him was a woman.
Not Dr. Hayes.
Not Victoria.
Someone else.
Elena leaned closer.
“Marcus.”
He looked.
She pointed.
“That woman.”
Marcus's face hardened.
It was one of the Moretti estate's former nannies.
Sophia Bell.
She had disappeared four years ago.
Victoria had claimed Sophia stole money and fled.
But the photograph proved otherwise.
Sophia had been caring for the child.
Marcus's voice dropped.
“She was involved.”
Daniel found Sophia's old address.
They drove there that afternoon.
The house had been abandoned.
Dust covered the windows.
The mailbox was broken.
But someone had recently entered.
Daniel found fresh footprints near the back door.
Marcus drew his weapon.
They entered carefully.
The house was empty.
Except for a child's drawing taped to the kitchen wall.
Marcus stopped.
It showed three people.
A woman.
A man.
A little boy.
Above them, written in a child's handwriting:
MY FAMILY
Elena touched the paper.
“This is him.”
Daniel searched the rest of the house.
Then called:
“Marcus.”
He found a hidden box beneath the floor.
Inside was a letter.
Marcus opened it.
The handwriting was Sophia's.
If you're reading this, Victoria knows I've been helping the boy.
Marcus read faster.
I never betrayed Elena. I was ordered to tell everyone she was unstable. I refused. That's why I was removed from the estate.
Then:
Dr. Hayes took the child because Victoria wanted him placed in a private facility.
Marcus's eyes widened.
Hayes believed the boy would be safer hidden.
Then the final line:
But there is one thing you don't know.
Marcus stopped.
The next page was missing.
He searched the box.
Nothing.
Daniel looked at him.
“Someone removed it.”
Marcus stared at the empty space.
Then Elena whispered:
“Look.”
She pointed to the inside of the box.
A small number was written there.
2719.
Daniel recognized it.
“A locker number.”
The locker belonged to a train station in Milwaukee.
Inside was another envelope.
This time, there was no letter.
Only a key.
And a photograph.
The boy.
Older.
Perhaps six.
Standing beside Dr. Hayes.
But behind them was a building.
Marcus recognized it immediately.
The Moretti family had once owned it.
A private boarding school.
Closed twenty years ago.
Daniel looked at the photograph.
“He's there.”
Marcus took the key.
“What does it open?”
Daniel examined it.
“Looks like an old estate key.”
Elena stared at the photograph.
“Marcus.”
“What?”
“I know that place.”
“You've been there?”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I dreamed about it.”
Marcus felt a chill.
“What happened in the dream?”
Elena closed her eyes.
“A child was crying.”
“What else?”
“Victoria was there.”
“Again?”
“She was standing in front of a locked door.”
Elena opened her eyes.
“She said, ‘You can have your son back when you remember why I took him.’”
Marcus stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
“I don't know.”
Then Elena's expression changed.
“Wait.”
“What?”
She looked at the key.
“I remember this.”
Marcus handed it to her.
She turned it over.
On the metal was an engraved symbol.
A small bird inside a circle.
Elena whispered:
“This was on the baby's blanket.”
Marcus stared.
“You remember?”
“Yes.”
“Where is the blanket?”
Elena looked at him.
“Victoria kept it.”
They returned to the estate.
Victoria was waiting in the foyer.
She looked at the key in Marcus's hand.
Her face changed.
Only slightly.
But Marcus saw it.
“What is that?”
Victoria smiled.
“An old key.”
“You recognize it.”
“No.”
“You're lying.”
Victoria looked at Elena.
“You've been digging into the past.”
Elena stepped forward.
“Where is my son?”
Victoria's expression became cold.
“You don't know what you're asking.”
“Where is he?”
“You lost him.”
Elena flinched.
“You took him.”
“No.”
Victoria's eyes hardened.
“You abandoned him.”
Marcus stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Victoria looked at him.
“Ask your wife what she did.”
Elena stared.
“What?”
Victoria smiled.
“You want the truth?”
“Yes.”
“Then remember.”
She walked toward the staircase.
Marcus called after her.
“Victoria!”
She stopped.
Without turning, she said:
“You keep searching for the person who stole your child.”
She glanced over her shoulder.
“But the person who gave him away…”
Her eyes settled on Elena.
“…was you.”
Then she walked upstairs.
Elena stood frozen.
Marcus turned to her.
“Don't listen to her.”
But Elena was no longer looking at Victoria.
She was looking at the key.
Her breathing became uneven.
A memory surfaced.
A hospital room.
A newborn.
Victoria standing beside her.
And Elena signing something.
A document.
She remembered a pen in her hand.
She remembered crying.
She remembered Victoria saying:
“If you love him, you'll let him go.”
Elena staggered backward.
Marcus caught her.
“What did you remember?”
Her lips trembled.
“I signed something.”
“What?”
“I gave someone permission to take my baby.”
Marcus went silent.
Elena looked at him through tears.
“I don't know why.”
That night, Marcus returned to the laboratory alone.
He searched the archives again.
This time he found a hidden folder.
EM — CONSENT
Inside was a scanned document.
His wife's signature appeared at the bottom.
Temporary guardianship authorization.
Marcus read the date.
Five years ago.
The document stated that Elena had voluntarily surrendered custody of her newborn son to a private guardian.
But there was something wrong.
The signature looked identical to Elena's.
Almost too identical.
Marcus zoomed in.
He noticed the pressure marks.
The signature had been traced.
Forged.
He opened the metadata.
The document had been created after Elena's supposed mental breakdown.
Someone had forged her signature.
Someone had constructed an entire legal history to make it appear that Elena had willingly given up her child.
Marcus's hands clenched.
Then another hidden file appeared.
ORIGINAL CONSENT — VIDEO
He clicked.
The screen showed Elena five years ago.
She was pale.
Exhausted.
Holding her newborn son.
Victoria stood beside her.
But Elena wasn't signing a voluntary surrender.
She was crying.
A doctor stood behind Victoria.
Dr. Grant.
Victoria placed a document in front of Elena.
Then said:
“If you refuse, Marcus dies.”
Elena looked terrified.
She signed.
Marcus stared at the screen.
The truth hit him like a bullet.
Elena hadn't given away their son because she didn't want him.
She had sacrificed him because she believed Marcus's life was in danger.
Then the video showed something else.
Dr. Hayes entering the room.
She took the baby.
Before leaving, she leaned toward Elena and whispered:
“I'll keep him safe.”
The recording ended.
Marcus sat in silence.
Then his phone rang.
Daniel.
“Marcus, we found the boarding school.”
“Where?”
“Thirty miles outside Milwaukee.”
“Is the boy there?”
“We don't know.”
Marcus stood.
“What do you mean?”
“The building is empty.”
His heart dropped.
“But we found evidence someone lived there recently.”
“What evidence?”
“A child's room.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
“And?”
Daniel's voice became grim.
“There are photographs of Elena all over the walls.”
Marcus froze.
“What kind of photographs?”
“From before you met her.”
A pause.
“And Marcus…”
“What?”
“There are photographs of you too.”
Marcus's blood ran cold.
“How old?”
“Some are from when you were a child.”
Silence.
Then Daniel said:
“Someone has been studying both of you for decades.”
Marcus looked at the laboratory screen.
The final file was still open.
PROJECT V — ORIGIN
He clicked it.
A photograph appeared.
A young Victoria.
A young Dr. Hayes.
And a man Marcus had never seen before.
But the name beneath the photograph made his blood freeze.
ANTHONY MORETTI.
His father.
Dead for twenty years.
Marcus stared.
Then another line appeared:
PROJECT V began before Marcus was born.
The lights in the laboratory suddenly flickered.
A final message appeared on the screen.
THE BOY IS NOT THE END OF THE EXPERIMENT.
Marcus stepped backward.
Then the computer displayed one final photograph.
Elena.
Pregnant.
Five years ago.
Standing beside Victoria.
But behind them was another woman.
A woman Marcus recognized immediately.
His mother.
Dead for twenty years.
Marcus whispered:
“No…”
May you like
The screen went black.
And from somewhere behind him came the sound of a key turning in the laboratory door.
