Chapter 5 - The Ghost in the Medical Archives
By afternoon, Dominic had turned his private home office into a war room. Massive digital screens displayed hospital schematics, birth certificates from twenty-six years ago, and high-resolution scans of the burnt hospital archive files from Boston.
Hannah sat across the mahogany desk, holding a cup of tea while Lily slept soundly curled up in her lap. Grace and Emma were playing quietly with wooden blocks in the corner under the watchful eye of a heavily armed guard whom Dominic had politely dismissed to the hallway.
"Look at this," Dominic said, turning a digital tablet toward her. He tapped a finger against a scanned document. "This is the original floor plan of St. Mary's Hospital maternity ward from twenty-six years ago. Your father rushed you there during a blizzard. But look at the attending physician listed on your birth certificate."
Hannah squinted at the faded cursive ink. "Dr. Marcus Vance."
"Not just any doctor," Dominic said grimly. "Marcus Vance was the personal obstetrician and fertility specialist for the Vale family—and my father’s most trusted confidant. He retired the year after you were born, and died under mysterious circumstances three years ago."
Hannah’s heart pounded against her ribs. "Why would my birth certificate be tied to your family's private doctor?"
"Because nothing in my world is ever a coincidence," Dominic said, leaning forward. "When my late wife Victoria gave birth to the triplets two years ago, she suffered catastrophic complications. The doctor who delivered them—Dr. Elena Vance, Marcus’s daughter—claimed she did everything she could, but told me one of the babies was stillborn while the other two barely survived."
Hannah gasped, clutching Lily tighter. "You think... you think my father didn't just adopt me? Or that something else happened?"
"I think," Dominic said slowly, his voice hardening into steel, "someone swapped children twenty-six years ago, and someone tried to replicate it two years ago. Victoria died in that car crash right after she discovered discrepancies in the hospital registry. And now, my surviving daughters look at a girl who shares an uncanny resemblance to my late wife’s side of the family—and call her Mama."
The heavy oak door to the study suddenly burst open. Vance—the head bodyguard—rushed inside, his face pale and breathing heavily.
"Boss," Vance said urgently. "We have a problem. The security feed at the front gate just picked up three unmarked black sedans. They're bypassing the call box. They're cutting the perimeter wires."
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Dominic stood up so fast his chair crashed backward onto the floor. In a single fluid motion, he drew his weapon from its shoulder holster, checked the magazine with a practiced click, and looked straight at Hannah.
"They found us," Dominic said coldly. "And they're coming for you."
