CHAPTER 4 — The Sister Who Needed My Baby Gone
CHAPTER 4 — The Sister Who Needed My Baby Gone
The hospital lights flickered once.
Then twice.
Then everything went black.
For three seconds, nobody moved.
I heard my own breathing.
James's hand found mine.
"Stay behind me."
Then a voice came from the corridor.
Calm.
Familiar.
"Hello, Evelyn."
My blood turned cold.
Dad.
The emergency lights flickered red.
Detective Miller stepped toward the doorway.
"Mr. Carter!"
No answer.
James pulled me behind him.
The officers moved into the hall.
Then came the sound of running feet.
A door slammed.
Someone shouted.
"Stop!"
A crash followed.
Then silence.
I looked at Lauren.
She was trembling.
"You said Dad was coming."
"He is."
"Where?"
She pointed toward the hallway.
"That way."
Detective Miller returned moments later.
"He's gone."
My father had disappeared.
But he hadn't come to see me.
He had come for something.
Or someone.
I looked down at my stomach.
My daughter kicked.
And suddenly I understood.
He had come for her.
The next morning, the hospital was surrounded by police.
My room had become a temporary security zone.
Two officers stood outside.
Another monitored the elevators.
James hadn't slept.
Neither had I.
Lauren sat in a chair beside the window.
Her wrists were still cuffed.
She looked exhausted.
I watched her for several minutes.
Then I said:
"Tell me everything."
She looked at me.
"I already told you."
"No."
I shook my head.
"You told me enough to make me afraid."
I placed a hand over my stomach.
"I need the rest."
Lauren lowered her eyes.
"I don't know where to start."
"Start with Dad."
She swallowed.
"He told me you were going to inherit everything."
"I already knew that."
"No."
She shook her head.
"He told me you were going to take it away from me."
"I never wanted your share."
"I know."
"Then why did you believe him?"
"Because he had documents."
"What documents?"
"Copies of the trust."
She looked toward the door.
"He showed me the parts that made you look selfish."
My chest tightened.
"What did he say?"
"He said Grandpa never loved me."
I stared at her.
"And you believed that?"
"I was twelve when Grandpa died."
"I know."
"I remember you crying at the funeral."
She looked at me.
"You were standing beside Mom."
"I remember."
"I remember thinking..."
Her voice broke.
"...that you were the only person Grandpa was looking for."
I frowned.
"What?"
"Before he died, Grandpa asked for you."
I remembered.
He had been unconscious.
Barely able to speak.
I had thought he was saying my name because I was his oldest granddaughter.
Lauren continued.
"Dad told me Grandpa wanted you to have everything."
"He did."
"He told me that meant there was nothing left for me."
I reached for her hand.
She hesitated.
Then allowed me to take it.
"I was a child," she whispered.
"So was I."
"I know."
"And we were both manipulated."
She nodded.
"But I still kicked you."
I looked at her.
"Yes."
She began crying.
"And I will regret it for the rest of my life."
Detective Miller entered.
"Lauren."
She looked up.
"We need another statement."
She nodded.
He sat across from her.
"Tell me about the night before the attack."
Lauren took a deep breath.
"Dad called me."
"When?"
"About ten."
"Where were you?"
"At home."
"What did he say?"
"He said I had one chance."
"One chance for what?"
"To secure my future."
Detective Miller wrote something down.
"How?"
"He said Evelyn had to lose the baby."
My stomach twisted.
Lauren continued.
"He said if the baby survived, the trust would become permanent."
"Did he ask you to kill her?"
"No."
"What exactly did he say?"
"He said..."
She swallowed.
"'Make her lose it.'"
The room went silent.
Detective Miller looked at me.
"Did you agree?"
Lauren nodded.
"I said yes."
I closed my eyes.
The truth hurt.
But it was better than another lie.
"What did he promise you?"
"Money."
"How much?"
"Five million."
I stared at her.
"Five million dollars?"
She nodded.
"But there was another promise."
"What?"
"Control."
"Control of what?"
"The company."
I looked at James.
Lauren continued.
"Dad said if Evelyn's child didn't survive, he would make me the public heir."
"Why?"
"Because he needed someone he could control."
Detective Miller looked up.
"So he never intended to give you the company."
Lauren laughed bitterly.
"No."
"Then why did you agree?"
"Because I believed him."
She looked at me.
"I believed he loved me."
I didn't know what to say.
There were no words that could make what she had done disappear.
But for the first time, I saw the difference between a person who chose evil and a person who had been trained to accept it.
Lauren had made a choice.
But my father had spent years constructing the choice.
That didn't excuse her.
It explained her.
And sometimes understanding someone was more painful than hating them.
Later that afternoon, James came into the room holding a file.
"We found something."
He placed it on the bed.
"What?"
"Your sister's bank records."
Lauren looked away.
James opened the folder.
"The five million wasn't the only payment."
My stomach tightened.
"How many?"
"Seven."
He showed us the dates.
Payments had started two years earlier.
The first was small.
Ten thousand dollars.
Then twenty.
Then fifty.
The amounts increased.
Until the final transfer.
Five million.
"Why would he pay her before the attack?"
Lauren whispered:
"Because he wanted to make sure I stayed loyal."
James nodded.
"There are also payments to another account."
"Whose?"
He looked at Lauren.
"Yours."
She shook her head.
"I don't know that account."
"Neither did I."
James turned the page.
"The account was opened in your name."
Lauren stared.
"When?"
"Six months ago."
She looked horrified.
"I never opened it."
"Someone did."
I looked at James.
"Could Dad have used her identity?"
"Possibly."
Detective Miller took the document.
"We'll investigate."
Then he stopped.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"The account received one transfer yesterday."
"How much?"
"Two hundred thousand."
Lauren went pale.
"Yesterday?"
"Yes."
"After the attack?"
"Yes."
She shook her head.
"I didn't get that money."
James looked at her.
"Someone is still using your name."
That evening, a nurse entered my room.
She carried medication.
"Mrs. Carter?"
"Yes?"
"These are for you."
James stood.
"What are they?"
"Your prescribed medication."
He took the packet.
Then stopped.
"Who ordered this?"
The nurse checked the chart.
"Dr. Phillips."
James looked at me.
"My doctor?"
The nurse nodded.
But James didn't open the medication.
He called the doctor.
A few minutes later, Dr. Phillips arrived.
"I didn't prescribe this."
The nurse went pale.
"Then who did?"
The doctor examined the medication.
"This isn't the medication on her chart."
My heart stopped.
"What is it?"
"We need to test it."
James immediately took the packet.
"Nobody touches this."
Detective Miller arrived.
The nurse began crying.
"I didn't know."
"We know."
She shook her head.
"Someone told me it was an updated order."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
"Look at me."
She did.
"Who gave it to you?"
She hesitated.
"A man."
"What man?"
"Older."
"Describe him."
"Gray hair."
My father.
I felt sick.
"Did he say anything?"
She nodded.
"He told me the baby needed to be protected."
That night, I couldn't stop thinking.
The kick.
The trust.
The money.
The fake account.
The medication.
My father had planned this for years.
But how far did it go?
James sat beside me.
"I won't let them touch you."
"I know."
"And I won't let them touch our daughter."
"I know."
I looked at him.
"What if they don't stop?"
"They won't."
"Then neither will we."
He smiled.
"That's my wife."
At midnight, Detective Miller called.
We answered.
"Mrs. Carter, we found the source of the money."
"Who?"
"Your uncle Daniel."
My stomach dropped.
"Daniel?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"He transferred money into Lauren's account."
"Why?"
"We don't know yet."
James frowned.
"Where is he?"
"Missing."
My heart began pounding.
"Since when?"
"About three hours ago."
"Did he leave the city?"
"We don't know."
Then Detective Miller said:
"There's another problem."
"What?"
"We found his car."
"Where?"
"Outside your family's old estate."
My blood went cold.
"What estate?"
"The one your grandfather left behind."
The estate had been abandoned for years.
No one was supposed to live there.
James looked at me.
"What's there?"
Detective Miller answered:
"We found signs that someone has been staying there."
"Who?"
"We don't know."
Then came the words that made my stomach drop.
"But we found something that belongs to your daughter."
I froze.
"My daughter hasn't been there."
"We know."
"What did you find?"
"A blanket."
"What kind?"
"Pink."
I stared at James.
The blanket was one we had bought before Emma was born.
We had kept it at home.
It had never left the house.
"That's impossible."
Detective Miller paused.
"There's more."
"What?"
"There's a photograph."
"Of whom?"
"Your family."
"Which family?"
"All of you."
I waited.
"And someone has drawn a circle around you."
I closed my eyes.
"Anything else?"
"Yes."
"What?"
The detective's voice lowered.
"There is a second circle."
"Around Lauren."
I looked at my sister.
She was staring at me.
Then Detective Miller said:
"And underneath both your names..."
He stopped.
"What?"
"...someone wrote the words, ONE OF YOU MUST DISAPPEAR."
Lauren began crying.
I moved closer.
"Don't."
She shook her head.
"Evelyn."
"What?"
"I know what that means."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
She looked at me.
"Dad told me there could only be one beneficiary."
"That's not what the trust says."
"I know."
"Then why?"
"Because he lied."
I stared at her.
"He told me..."
She swallowed.
"...that if I didn't eliminate the baby, he would eliminate me."
The room became silent.
James stepped forward.
"He threatened you?"
Lauren nodded.
"Several times."
"Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"Because I thought no one would believe me."
I looked at her.
"I would have."
She began crying.
"I know that now."
The next morning, the police searched the old estate.
They found boxes.
Photographs.
Medical records.
Copies of my pregnancy files.
Every doctor's appointment.
Every ultrasound.
Every medication.
Someone had been tracking my pregnancy for months.
Then Detective Miller found something that made even him go quiet.
A calendar.
Every date was marked.
My doctor's appointments.
My work schedule.
James's schedule.
My parents' schedule.
Lauren's schedule.
And one date was circled in red.
My due date.
Beneath it was a handwritten note:
IF THE BABY SURVIVES THIS LONG, MOVE TO PLAN B.
I stared at the calendar.
"What is Plan B?"
Nobody answered.
Then James noticed something.
A second page had been taped behind the calendar.
He pulled it away.
Underneath was a list.
Four names.
My father.
Daniel.
Victor Hale.
And one final name.
My mother.
I looked at her.
She began crying.
"No."
"You knew?"
"I didn't."
"Your name is here."
"I swear I didn't know."
Detective Miller took the page.
"We'll determine whether these names represent suspects or targets."
My mother collapsed into a chair.
"I would never hurt my granddaughter."
I believed her.
But I also knew something else.
Someone had been using everyone.
My father had manipulated Lauren.
Daniel had moved the money.
Victor had controlled the trust.
Someone had entered the hospital.
And my mother's name had appeared on the list.
This wasn't one person's plan anymore.
It was a network.
That afternoon, Lauren asked to speak with me alone.
James didn't want to leave.
I told him it was okay.
He stood outside the door.
Lauren looked at me.
"I need to tell you one last thing."
"What?"
"The night Dad told me to attack you..."
She hesitated.
"He gave me a photograph."
"Of what?"
"Your ultrasound."
My stomach tightened.
"How did he get it?"
"I don't know."
"What was written on it?"
She looked directly into my eyes.
"Your daughter's name."
We had never publicly announced her name.
Not yet.
Only James and I knew.
I whispered:
"Emma."
Lauren nodded.
"Yes."
My blood ran cold.
"How did Dad know?"
"I don't know."
She took a breath.
"But there was another name written on the back."
"Whose?"
Lauren looked terrified.
"Your grandfather's."
"What?"
She whispered:
"He had written one sentence."
"What sentence?"
Lauren's voice broke.
THE GIRL MUST LIVE, OR THEY ALL WIN.
I stared at her.
Then I looked toward my stomach.
Emma moved.
Once.
Twice.
I placed my hand over her.
"She's going to live."
Lauren cried.
"I hope so."
I looked at my sister.
"For the first time..."
I took her hand.
"...I think we need each other."
She stared at me.
"What?"
"If we're going to survive this..."
I squeezed her fingers.
"...we stop fighting each other."
Lauren nodded.
"But can you forgive me?"
I thought about the grass.
The pain.
The silence.
The moment I couldn't feel my daughter move.
"No."
Her face fell.
"Not yet."
Then I added:
"But I can give you a chance to earn it."
Lauren nodded through her tears.
"That's more than I deserve."
"Maybe."
I looked toward the door.
"But we're going to find out who did this."
She squeezed my hand.
"Together?"
I nodded.
"Together."
That night, James found something inside the pink blanket recovered from the estate.
A tiny memory card.
He gave it to Detective Miller.
They opened it.
There was one video.
Dark.
Grainy.
Recorded from inside a car.
My father was sitting in the passenger seat.
Victor Hale was driving.
Daniel sat behind them.
And someone else was in the back.
A woman.
Her face was hidden.
My father spoke first.
"The kick didn't work."
Victor answered:
"Then we move to Plan B."
Daniel asked:
"What if Evelyn survives?"
My father looked at him.
"She won't."
The woman in the back finally spoke.
Her voice was quiet.
Familiar.
"Make sure the baby doesn't survive either."
I froze.
I knew that voice.
James looked at me.
"Who is it?"
I couldn't speak.
Because the woman in the video wasn't a stranger.
It wasn't Lauren.
It wasn't my mother.
It wasn't someone from outside the family.
It was someone I had trusted for years.
Someone who had held my hand at my wedding.
Someone who had kissed my forehead when I was a child.
Someone who had cried when I told her I was pregnant.
I whispered her name.
"Grandma."
The room went silent.
And suddenly, the entire family story changed.
May you like
Because the woman who had spent years pretending to protect me...
had just been caught on camera ordering the death of my unborn daughter.
