CHAPTER 6 — THE BABY WHO WAS NEVER SIENNA'S
CHAPTER 6 — THE BABY WHO WAS NEVER SIENNA'S
The gunshot echoed through the hospital.
For one terrible second, nobody moved.
Then the baby screamed.
Sienna tightened her arms around him.
I heard footsteps rushing toward the observation room.
"Down!" Julian shouted.
He threw himself between us and the door.
Another shot cracked through the hallway.
Glass shattered.
The nurse screamed.
I dropped behind a cabinet.
Dr. Vance grabbed my shoulder and pulled me farther into the room.
"Stay down!"
My heart was pounding so hard I could barely hear anything else.
Sienna was still holding the baby.
She was shaking violently.
"Give him to me," I whispered.
She looked at me.
"No."
"Sienna."
"They're coming for him."
"I know."
"You don't understand."
Her eyes were wild.
"They don't want Maya."
She looked down at the baby.
"They want him."
I stared at the child.
"Why?"
Sienna's lips trembled.
"Because he's not mine."
I felt something inside me stop.
"I know."
"No."
She shook her head.
"You don't."
She looked at me.
"This baby isn't mine."
I stepped closer.
"Then whose is he?"
Sienna's face collapsed.
"Yours."
The world went silent.
I stared at her.
"No."
She nodded.
"He is."
"He's the embryo."
"Yes."
"Then he's my son."
Sienna closed her eyes.
"Yes."
I couldn't breathe.
For months, I had seen photographs of this child.
I had watched him being carried by another woman.
I had watched Julian smile beside him.
I had heard everyone call him Sienna's son.
And now—
he was mine.
My son.
I reached for him.
Sienna hesitated.
Then she slowly placed him into my arms.
The instant his tiny body touched my chest, something inside me broke.
He stopped crying.
His little fingers curled around mine.
I stared at his face.
His eyes.
His tiny nose.
The faint birthmark beneath his ear.
I had seen that mark before.
On the photograph of the sixteen-year-old baby.
The same mark.
My son.
My first child.
My second child.
Two lives.
Two secrets.
Two children stolen from me in different ways.
I pressed my lips against his forehead.
"I'm sorry."
My voice broke.
"I'm so sorry."
He made a tiny sound and buried his face against my chest.
And for the first time in sixteen years—
I held one of my children.
The door burst open.
Two men rushed inside.
Julian tackled the first.
The second raised his weapon.
Sienna screamed.
Dr. Vance grabbed a metal tray and slammed it against the man's wrist.
The gun fell.
I ran.
Not toward the exit.
Toward the stairwell.
I didn't know where I was going.
I only knew one thing.
I wasn't going to let anyone take my son.
Julian followed.
"Clara!"
I kept running.
"Where are you going?"
"To find Maya."
"We don't know where she is."
"I do."
He stopped.
"What?"
I looked at him.
"Sienna said my mother has her."
Julian's face changed.
"Then we need to find your mother."
Behind us, the alarm began screaming.
Hospital staff flooded the corridors.
Security guards rushed toward the observation wing.
I ran faster.
My son was crying softly in my arms.
I held him tighter.
"You're safe."
I didn't know whether that was true.
But I needed him to believe it.
We reached the underground parking garage.
Vivian was waiting beside a black SUV.
She opened the door.
"Get in."
Julian looked at her.
"How did you know?"
"I didn't."
She looked toward the hospital.
"I guessed."
We climbed inside.
Dr. Vance stayed behind to deal with the police.
Vivian started the engine.
I sat in the back with my son.
Julian sat beside me.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then he looked at the baby.
"What are you going to name him?"
I looked down.
"I don't know."
He touched the child's tiny hand.
His expression broke.
"His name was Ethan."
I looked at him.
"What?"
"Sienna called him Ethan."
I shook my head.
"That isn't his name."
Julian looked at me.
"What do you want to call him?"
I looked at my son.
He had my eyes.
My blood.
My future.
And suddenly, I knew.
"Daniel."
Julian smiled sadly.
"Daniel."
I nodded.
"My father used to call me that."
"Your father?"
I looked out the window.
"He died before I married you."
Julian was silent.
Then he whispered:
"Daniel."
My son opened his eyes.
For one brief moment, he looked directly at me.
And I knew.
Whatever happened next—
I would never let anyone take him from me again.
Vivian drove us to an old apartment building near Lake Michigan.
"This is where your mother lived."
I stared at the building.
"She's here?"
"She was."
"Where is she now?"
Vivian parked.
"That's what we're going to find out."
We entered through the back.
The apartment was small.
Nothing like the Blackwood mansion.
There were no expensive paintings.
No marble floors.
No servants.
Just photographs.
Hundreds of them.
I walked toward the wall.
My heart stopped.
Maya.
There were photographs of Maya everywhere.
As a baby.
As a toddler.
At school.
On birthdays.
At the beach.
Sleeping.
Laughing.
Growing.
My mother had watched her grow.
My mother had loved her.
I touched one photograph.
Maya was about three years old.
She was holding a stuffed rabbit.
On the back was a handwritten note.
She asked about her mother today.
My eyes filled with tears.
Another photograph.
Maya at five.
She knows her mother's name now.
Another.
Maya at nine.
She wants to meet Clara.
Another.
Maya at fourteen.
I don't know how much longer I can keep her hidden.
I turned toward Vivian.
"Why?"
She looked away.
"Because people were looking for her."
"Who?"
"The Aster Foundation."
"But why?"
Vivian hesitated.
"Because Maya is valuable."
My stomach twisted.
"She's a child."
"To you."
"What does that mean?"
"To them, she's genetic evidence."
I shook my head.
"No."
Vivian nodded.
"Maya carries a combination of genes they spent decades trying to reproduce."
I looked at my son.
"Does Daniel have it?"
"Yes."
I stared at her.
"So they want both of them."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Vivian's voice became quiet.
"Because together, your children can prove that the research program succeeded."
"What research program?"
She looked at me.
"One designed to manipulate inherited disease."
I felt sick.
"Are you telling me my children were created for an experiment?"
"No."
She paused.
"Your children were created naturally."
"Then what?"
"Your genetic material was taken because of your family's mutation."
I remembered what Dr. Vance had said.
A rare marker.
A hereditary disease.
Something my mother had tried to hide.
"What disease?"
Vivian didn't answer.
"Tell me."
"Neurological degeneration."
I frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"Your family has a genetic mutation that can cause severe neurological decline."
I looked at my son.
"Does he have it?"
"Yes."
My heart broke.
"Will he get sick?"
Vivian shook her head.
"Not necessarily."
"Then why are they after him?"
"Because your children have a genetic variation that may suppress the disease."
I stared at her.
"May?"
"That's why the foundation wants them."
"They want to experiment on my children."
"Yes."
I held Daniel closer.
"Over my dead body."
Vivian nodded.
"That's what your mother said."
I looked around the apartment.
"Where is she?"
Vivian's face changed.
"She left a message."
"For me?"
"Yes."
She walked toward a small desk.
There was an envelope.
My name was written on it.
CLARA.
My hands trembled as I opened it.
Inside was a single letter.
I read.
My darling Clara,
If you are reading this, then everything I feared has happened.
You know about Maya.
You know about Daniel.
You know that I lied to you.
I am sorry.
But I need you to understand something.
I never stopped loving you.
Every lie was meant to keep you alive.
Every secret was meant to keep your children hidden.
But I made one terrible mistake.
I trusted the wrong person.
I trusted Julian.
I stopped reading.
I looked at Julian.
He stood perfectly still.
"Keep reading," he whispered.
I continued.
Julian knew more than he told you.
He wasn't the architect of the plan.
But he was involved.
He signed something.
A document that gave the Blackwood family access to your medical records.
He signed it before your fertility treatment.
He believed he was protecting you.
He was wrong.
And because of his signature, they were able to find you.
I wanted to hate him.
But I couldn't.
Because when he discovered the truth, he tried to destroy the agreement.
That's why Marianne threatened him.
That's why he divorced you.
That's why he let you hate him.
He thought your hatred would keep you alive.
But there is something I never told him.
The divorce was never legally completed.
I stopped.
The paper slipped slightly from my fingers.
I looked at Julian.
"What?"
His face had gone pale.
"What did she say?"
I held up the letter.
"The divorce."
He swallowed.
"What about it?"
"It was never completed."
He stared at me.
"No."
I looked down at the letter again.
Marianne arranged the divorce papers.
But the final decree was never filed.
She wanted Clara to believe she was free of Julian.
She wanted Julian to believe the same.
But legally, they remained married.
I discovered this too late.
By then, the Blackwoods had already taken control of the situation.
Clara, if you are reading this, there is one thing you must know.
Julian is still your husband.
And that makes him the legal father of Daniel.
Which means the people coming for your children will come for him too.
Trust carefully.
Especially the person who tells you the divorce was real.
Your mother.
I lowered the letter.
Julian stared at me.
"Clara..."
"Don't."
"I didn't know."
"You didn't know?"
"I swear."
"You spent a year with Sienna."
"I thought the divorce was final."
"You lived with another woman."
"I thought I was free."
"You married her."
He looked at me.
"We never legally married."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
"Marianne arranged the ceremony."
"The documents were never filed."
I laughed.
It was almost hysterical.
"So let me understand this."
I looked between Julian and Vivian.
"I was never divorced."
"Julian never legally married Sienna."
"And the child she carried is legally mine."
Vivian nodded.
"Yes."
I looked down at Daniel.
The baby had fallen asleep.
His tiny hand was wrapped around my finger.
For the first time in a year, I didn't feel like a discarded wife.
I felt like a mother.
And suddenly—
I understood why Sienna had been so terrified.
She wasn't just afraid of losing Julian.
She was afraid of losing the child.
Because legally—
he had never been hers.
The front door suddenly slammed.
Vivian turned.
"Someone's here."
Julian stood.
"How many?"
Vivian reached for a weapon.
"At least three."
I grabbed Daniel.
"Where's the exit?"
"Kitchen."
We ran.
A loud crash came from the living room.
Someone shouted:
"Find the girl!"
Julian stopped.
"The girl?"
I froze.
They weren't looking for Daniel.
They were looking for Maya.
Which meant—
Maya was nearby.
A small sound came from upstairs.
A floorboard creaked.
I looked up.
"She's here."
Vivian shook her head.
"No."
Another sound.
A door closing.
I ran up the stairs.
"Clara!"
I didn't stop.
At the end of the hallway was a bedroom.
The door was slightly open.
I pushed it.
A girl stood inside.
Sixteen years old.
Dark hair.
My eyes.
My face.
Maya.
She stared at me.
Neither of us spoke.
Then her eyes fell to the baby in my arms.
Her expression changed.
"Is that him?"
I nodded.
"Daniel."
She walked closer.
"He's my brother."
I couldn't speak.
She reached out and touched his tiny hand.
He stirred.
Then opened his eyes.
Maya smiled through tears.
"I knew you would come."
I swallowed.
"How?"
She looked at me.
"Grandma told me."
"Your grandmother?"
"My grandmother told me everything."
"Where is she?"
Maya's smile disappeared.
"They took her."
My heart dropped.
"Who?"
She looked toward the window.
"The men who are downstairs."
Then she whispered:
"Mom..."
I froze.
It was the first time she had called me that.
"Yes?"
Maya stepped closer.
"Grandma told me something else."
"What?"
"She said you must never trust Julian."
I looked behind me.
Julian stood at the end of the hallway.
Maya's face went pale.
"Because he's the one who signed the original agreement."
Julian closed his eyes.
I stared at him.
He whispered:
"I can explain."
Maya shook her head.
"You already did."
I turned toward him.
"What agreement?"
He didn't answer.
"Julian."
Still nothing.
I stepped closer.
"What did you sign?"
He finally looked at me.
Tears were running down his face.
"The agreement that started all of this."
I felt my stomach drop.
"What did it say?"
He whispered:
"That if we ever had children..."
He looked at Daniel.
"...they would belong to the Blackwood Foundation."
Silence.
My son stirred in my arms.
I looked at Julian.
The man I had once loved.
The man I had spent a year hating.
The man who had just told me he had been protecting me.
And suddenly I couldn't tell which version of him was real.
Because if he had signed that document—
then perhaps the divorce wasn't the biggest lie.
Perhaps our entire marriage had been built on one.
Downstairs, a gunshot rang out.
Maya grabbed my hand.
"We have to go."
I looked at Julian.
"Yes."
For the first time, he didn't argue.
He simply nodded.
And together—
the four of us ran.
A mother.
A father.
A sixteen-year-old daughter.
And a baby who had never belonged to Sienna at all.
But behind us, the people who had spent sixteen years hunting my children were closing in.
And I knew one thing now.
May you like
They hadn't come to take my son.
They had come to erase the evidence that he had ever existed.
