Chapter 6 - THE BABY WHO WAS SWITCHED
Bethany stared at the frozen video.
For several seconds, she couldn't speak.
The birth certificate said Vittorio Moretti was her father.
The photograph showed him marrying Lorraine.
But now Lorraine was claiming none of it was true.
Dante watched her carefully.
"Bethany."
She shook her head.
"No."
"Listen—"
"No more secrets."
Her voice cracked.
"I'm done."
She looked directly at him.
"Tell me what you know."
Dante took a slow breath.
"Twenty-nine years ago, my father operated several private clinics through shell companies. Some were legitimate. Others were used to hide financial transfers."
Bethany stared.
"What does that have to do with me?"
"One clinic was investigated after several birth records were found to be falsified."
Her stomach tightened.
"Babies?"
Dante nodded.
"Children were given new identities."
Bethany took a step backward.
"You think I was one of them?"
"I think we need proof."
Marco entered with a laptop.
"We found an archived hospital report."
Dante turned.
"Show me."
The screen displayed an old maternity ward.
The date was twenty-nine years earlier.
A handwritten entry appeared.
INFANT FEMALE — IDENTITY TRANSFER AUTHORIZED.
Bethany felt sick.
"Identity transfer?"
Marco opened another document.
A hospital identification bracelet.
The name printed on it wasn't Bethany.
It was ELIZABETH CARTER.
Bethany stared at the screen.
"Who's Elizabeth Carter?"
Dante's face changed.
He recognized the name.
"She was the daughter of a federal investigator."
"What investigator?"
"James Carter."
Marco continued reading.
"According to the records, Carter was investigating Vittorio's financial network. He disappeared shortly before the child's birth."
Bethany pressed a hand against her chest.
"And the baby?"
Marco hesitated.
"Reported dead."
Silence filled the room.
Then Bethany whispered, "But she wasn't."
Dante looked at her.
"No."
The truth settled slowly.
Someone had taken a newborn child.
Changed her identity.
Given her to Lorraine.
And spent twenty-nine years hiding the evidence.
Bethany thought of every birthday.
Every Christmas.
Every time she'd asked Lorraine why there were no baby photographs from the hospital.
Her mother always said the camera had broken.
Bethany had believed her.
A new message appeared on her phone.
A photograph.
Lorraine sat beside Salvatore.
Behind them stood a woman in a white coat.
Bethany recognized her immediately.
Dr. Evelyn Price.
The pediatric surgeon at her hospital.
The woman who had supervised Bethany during her first year as a nurse.
The woman who had always seemed strangely protective of her.
May you like
Beneath the photograph were five words.
SHE WAS THERE WHEN YOU WERE BORN.
