Chapter 4 - THE CHILDREN NOBODY COULD FIND
I stared at the photograph until the handwriting blurred.
Michael knows where the children are.
"What children?" I whispered.
Mom looked toward Adrien.
He had gone completely still.
"Mrs. Carter," he said carefully, "did Michael ever mention the Whitmore Children's Foundation?"
Mom closed her eyes.
"Yes."
My stomach tightened.
"What was it?"
She took a breath.
"A charity that provided medical care, housing, and education for vulnerable families."
"That sounds good."
"It was supposed to be."
I sat beside her.
"Mom, please."
She looked at me.
"Michael discovered that some children receiving assistance had been placed into private guardianship arrangements using falsified documents."
Adrien's expression changed.
"Illegal adoptions?"
"Some may have been. Other cases involved manipulated custody records and financial trusts."
I felt cold.
"What did Dad do?"
"He began collecting evidence."
Mom reached into a drawer.
She removed a small leather notebook.
The pages were yellowed.
The handwriting was neat and precise.
Michael Carter's handwriting.
I touched the cover.
For the first time in my life, I was holding something my father had written.
Mom opened to a page marked with a blue ribbon.
Twenty-three names.
Dates of birth.
Hospitals.
Financial account numbers.
I scanned the list.
Then stopped.
SOPHIE ELIZABETH CARTER.
My hands went cold.
"Why am I here?"
Mom began crying.
"I don't know everything."
"Mom."
She looked devastated.
"Michael told me the foundation was using children's identities to control money."
I stared.
"What does that mean?"
Adrien answered carefully.
"Trusts can be established for children. If someone falsifies guardianship or identity records, they may be able to exercise control over assets that don't belong to them."
I looked at him.
"Are you saying someone used my name to steal money?"
"Possibly."
Mom nodded.
"Michael believed Sophie was one of the children involved."
My heart pounded.
"How?"
She looked away.
Then whispered, "Because your birth certificate was changed."
I sat back.
"No."
Mom reached into the envelope.
A second document appeared.
An original hospital record.
The father's name was Michael Carter.
But the mother's name wasn't Helen Carter.
It was Catherine Whitmore.
I stared.
"Who is Catherine?"
Mom began sobbing.
I looked at her.
"Mom?"
She took my hand.
"I'm the woman who raised you, Sophie."
My eyes filled.
"But Catherine was the woman who gave birth to you."
The room seemed to tilt.
For twenty-eight years, I'd believed I knew who I was.
Now the most basic fact about my life had changed.
Adrien gently stepped backward, giving us space.
I looked at Mom.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
She cried harder.
"Because Catherine died trying to protect you."
I covered my mouth.
May you like
Then she whispered something even worse.
"And Michael Carter wasn't your biological father either."
