Chapter 6: The Person Who Opened the Door for My Father
By noon, the hospital had become a place of whispers.
People looked at me differently.
Some with sympathy.
Some with curiosity.
Some with fear.
I hated that.
I hated feeling like my life had become a story people discussed in hallways.
A woman had a baby.
Her parents tried to take him.
There was paperwork.
There were secrets.
There were investigations.
It sounded like something that happened to someone else.
Not me.
Not the same woman who had been decorating a nursery two weeks earlier.
Not the woman who thought her biggest problem was choosing between two shades of blue paint.
Daniel sat beside me while I fed our son.
Neither of us spoke for a while.
Finally, he said:
“I need to tell you something else.””
I looked at him.
“I’m starting to hate that sentence.””
“I know.””
“What now?””
He looked ashamed.
“Your father contacted someone I know.””
“Who?””
“My former business partner.””
I frowned.
“What does that have to do with anything?””
“Because your father wanted information about me.””
I stared.
“Your former business partner gave it to him?””
“I don’t know.””
That scared me.
Because uncertainty was becoming the theme of my life.
People hiding things.
People making decisions.
People choosing sides.
The door opened.
The nurse from yesterday stepped in.
She smiled when she saw the baby.
“How is our little fighter?””
I smiled slightly.
“Better than his mother.””
She laughed.
Then her expression became serious.
“Mrs. Hayes, I found something.””
My heart immediately changed.
“What?””
She closed the door.
“I checked the access records.””
Daniel stood.
“From the file?””
“Yes.””
“And?””
She looked at me.
“The person who accessed your son’s records was not your father.””
I froze.
“What?””
“It was someone else.””
“Who?””
She hesitated.
Then she handed me a printed page.
At the top was a name.
A hospital employee.
Someone I recognized.
Someone who had been in my room earlier.
My breath caught.
“No.””
Daniel looked at the paper.
“Who is this?””
I whispered:
“My mother.””
The nurse shook her head.
“No.””
I looked confused.
“But that’s her name.””
“Yes.””
She pointed lower.
“Look at the employee ID.””
I read it.
Then my blood went cold.
The person who accessed the records was not my mother.
It was someone with the same name.
Someone who worked in hospital administration.
Someone who had approved the access request.
Someone who had allowed my father’s information gathering to happen.
The nurse continued.
“She is being questioned now.””
I stared at the page.
“So my parents didn’t do this alone.””
“No.””
“Someone helped them.””
“Yes.””
Daniel looked at me.
“Rosa…”
I knew that tone.
He had figured something out.
“What?””
He looked at the hospital badge attached to the nurse’s uniform.
Then at me.
“Your father couldn’t have known everything unless someone gave him information.””
The room became silent.
Because suddenly, the answer was obvious.
Someone had been feeding him information.
Someone had known about my pregnancy.
Someone had known about the delivery.
Someone had known the exact moment when I would be vulnerable.
My phone, which had been sitting untouched since surgery, suddenly lit up.
A message.
Unknown number.
I picked it up.
One sentence.
My blood turned cold.
*You think your parents are the enemy because that is what they want you to think. Ask Daniel what happened five years ago.*
I looked at my husband.
He saw my face.
“What is it?””
I couldn’t speak.
Because the message had done exactly what it was meant to do.
It planted a question.
A doubt.
A crack.
Five years ago.
Before we married.
Before our son.
Before my parents declared war.
I slowly turned the phone toward Daniel.
He read the message.
May you like
And for the first time since this nightmare began…
Daniel looked afraid of the truth.
