Chapter 6 - The Truth About My Baby
The medical records arrived eleven days later.
I sat in Sarah's office with Daniel beside me.
Across the table sat Dr. Helen Ward, an independent obstetrician Sarah had asked to review them.
I could barely keep my hands still.
Dr. Ward opened the folder.
"Evelyn, before we begin, I want you to understand something."
I nodded.
"Medical records can tell us what was documented. They cannot always tell us why something happened."
I swallowed.
"Please just tell me what you found."
She looked at the pages.
"Your pregnancy was confirmed in early 2020. The records show an ultrasound and laboratory testing."
"I remember."
"Two days before you experienced bleeding, you attended Harbor Women's Medical Center."
I nodded again.
"According to these records, you were told the pregnancy was unlikely to continue."
I frowned.
"Nobody told me that."
Dr. Ward looked up.
"You're certain?"
"Absolutely."
Michael had told me the tests were routine.
I remembered leaving the clinic feeling hopeful.
He had even suggested buying a crib.
Dr. Ward continued.
"The notes indicate a physician requested follow-up testing and another scan."
"Did I get them?"
"No."
My stomach tightened.
"Why not?"
"The file says you declined follow-up and requested that communication go through your husband."
I stared at her.
"I never said that."
Sarah slid another page toward me.
"Look at the authorization."
My signature appeared at the bottom.
I studied it.
The shape of the letters was close.
But the final stroke was wrong.
The same mistake appeared on the forged business documents.
"That's not mine."
Sarah nodded.
"We're having it examined."
Dr. Ward closed the folder.
"There's another concern."
I braced myself.
"The later hospital records describe your loss as a miscarriage. But the earlier clinical notes suggest there was some uncertainty about the exact status of the pregnancy at the time."
I stared at her.
"What does that mean?"
"It means the records contain inconsistencies. Some supporting documents are missing, and the sequence needs further investigation."
My throat tightened.
"Was my baby alive?"
Dr. Ward looked at me with compassion.
"The available records show a pregnancy. They do not establish that it continued beyond the hospital event."
I closed my eyes.
My hands were trembling.
For years, I had accepted what I was told.
Now I didn't even know whether I had received accurate information.
"Did Michael cause it?"
Dr. Ward answered carefully.
"There is no evidence here that he caused your pregnancy loss. But there is evidence that someone may have interfered with your access to information."
I nodded.
It wasn't the terrible certainty I had feared.
It wasn't peace, either.
Sarah touched the folder.
"We can investigate the missing records and the forged authorization without making assumptions."
I looked at Daniel.
He reached for my hand.
Then stopped.
He waited.
I placed my hand in his.
It was such a small gesture.
But after years of people grabbing, ordering, and deciding for me, his patience nearly broke my heart.
Later that afternoon, Sarah received another call.
Olivia wanted to speak.
Privately.
Sarah insisted the meeting take place in her office.
Olivia arrived wearing sunglasses.
Even indoors, she kept them on until Sarah asked her to remove them.
There was a bruise near her jaw.
I stared.
"Did Michael do that?"
Olivia looked down.
"I fell."
Nobody believed her.
She sat across from me.
For a long moment, we said nothing.
Then she whispered, "I don't know where to start."
"Try the truth."
Tears filled her eyes.
"I'm sorry."
I felt nothing.
Those words were three years too late.
"Start with the clinic," I said.
Olivia looked at Sarah.
"Will Michael find out I'm here?"
Sarah answered.
"This meeting is confidential from our side, but I can't guarantee he won't learn about it. If you're in danger, we can discuss safety planning."
Olivia nodded shakily.
Then she looked at me.
"Michael told me you were pregnant before you told anyone else."
I frowned.
"How?"
"He saw your appointment reminder."
I waited.
"He was furious."
My heart dropped.
"Why?"
"Because he didn't want a baby."
I stared at her.
"He told me he did."
Olivia began crying.
"He told you what you wanted to hear."
I looked away.
She continued.
"He said a child would complicate the divorce."
The room went silent.
I turned back.
"What divorce?"
Olivia covered her mouth.
"Oh, God."
"What divorce, Olivia?"
She lowered her hands.
"Michael was planning to leave you in 2020."
My chest tightened.
"For you?"
She nodded.
I laughed bitterly.
"So you were together even then."
She couldn't answer.
"How long?"
"Since 2019."
I looked at her.
Two years before the anniversary.
Almost three.
The friendship I had cherished for twenty-six years had already been poisoned long before I knew.
"Tell me about the clinic."
Olivia wiped her eyes.
"Michael paid someone there to send him copies of your records."
Sarah immediately began taking notes.
"Who?"
"I don't know his name. A man in administration."
"What did Michael do with them?"
Olivia looked at me.
"He told me he'd make sure you stopped asking questions about the pregnancy."
I felt sick.
"Did he say how?"
"No."
"Did you ask?"
She shook her head.
"Not enough."
I stared at her.
She began sobbing.
"I was selfish. I wanted him. I believed everything he said."
I leaned forward.
"You watched me mourn my baby."
Her face crumpled.
"You held me while I cried."
"I know."
"You told me to move on."
"I'm sorry."
I stood.
"Your apology doesn't give me back those years."
Olivia reached toward me.
I stepped away.
She lowered her hand.
"Michael is dangerous, Evelyn."
"Then why did you marry him?"
She looked down at the bruise on her jaw.
"Because by the time I realized what he was, I had helped him do too much."
Sarah leaned forward.
"What do you mean?"
Olivia opened her handbag.
She removed a small USB drive.
My breath caught.
"What's on that?"
"Copies of his messages with Robert. Bank records. Things he made me sign."
Sarah reached for it.
Olivia pulled it back.
"First, I need protection."
Sarah nodded.
"We can discuss what is available, but you need your own attorney. And if you're being threatened, we should involve the proper authorities."
Olivia looked at me.
"I'll tell them everything."
I stared at the woman who had once been my sister in everything but blood.
"Everything?"
She nodded.
"Even what you did at my trial?"
Her lips trembled.
"Especially that."
Then she whispered something that made Daniel straighten.
"Michael has been hiding money in his mother's name."
Daniel's face went white.
"Our mother's?"
May you like
Olivia nodded.
"And after she died, he tried to get it back."
