Chapter 5: The Name on the Birth Certificate
I couldn't feel my hands.
I couldn't hear the rain anymore.
All I could hear was Eleanor's voice repeating the same sentence inside my head.
Richard wasn't your biological father.
I looked at Mr. Bennett.
He didn't deny it.
I looked at Sarah.
She gently moved a chair closer.
“Why don't you sit down, Maya?””
I shook my head.
“Is she telling the truth?””
Mr. Bennett pulled out a chair.
“Let's sit first.””
“No. I want to know.””
Eleanor wiped her cheeks.
“Your mother, Claire, was twenty-four when she gave birth to you. She had complications during delivery. The doctors tried everything they could, but she didn't survive.””
I stared at her.
“Why did Dad say she died in a car accident?””
Eleanor looked down.
“Because he wanted to hide the circumstances surrounding her death.””
“But why?””
She hesitated.
“Your mother had been planning to leave Richard before you were born.””
I felt a strange pressure in my chest.
“Why?””
“Because she was unhappy. Because she wanted to raise you somewhere peaceful. And because she had fallen in love with someone else.””
Mr. Bennett opened his folder.
“Eleanor, we should be precise.””
She nodded.
“Her name was Claire. She loved a man named Daniel Hayes.””
“Hayes?””
Eleanor nodded.
“My family name.””
I looked between them.
“Was Daniel my father?””
“Yes.””
The answer was quiet.
But it felt louder than anything I had ever heard.
I sat down.
My mother had loved someone else.
Someone who wasn't Richard.
Someone whose name I had never heard.
“Where is he?””
Eleanor looked away.
“I don't know.””
“What do you mean?””
“Daniel disappeared shortly before your birth.””
I frowned.
“Disappeared?””
“He was supposed to meet Claire at the hospital. He never arrived.””
“Why?””
Eleanor shook her head.
“I don't know. Harold believed someone had prevented him from coming.””
Mr. Bennett placed the amended birth certificate on the table.
“That's why your grandfather kept these documents.””
I looked at the name.
Daniel Hayes.
It was written in the section identifying my biological father.
“Then why does my school paperwork say Richard Collins?””
“Because Richard legally adopted you,” Mr. Bennett explained.
“Was that allowed?””
“Yes, but the circumstances surrounding the adoption are being reviewed. There are documents suggesting the process may not have followed the proper procedures.””
Eleanor reached across the table.
“Your grandfather tried to fix it.””
I looked at her hand.
She pulled it back slightly.
“I know this is difficult. You don't have to trust me immediately.””
I looked at her.
“Did you try to find me?””
Her face crumpled.
“Every year.””
“Then why didn't you?””
She closed her eyes.
“Richard told me you didn't want contact. He said you were happy and that I would only confuse you.””
I remembered a Christmas card I had found in Grandpa's kitchen drawer years earlier.
It had a little drawing of a snowman.
Inside, someone had written:
I hope one day I get to hug you.
I had asked Grandpa who sent it.
He told me it was someone who missed me.
I had never thought to ask more.
“Did you send me that card?””
Eleanor nodded.
I stared at her.
“Dad threw it away.””
She covered her mouth.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then Eleanor opened her handbag.
She removed a small velvet pouch.
Inside was a silver bracelet.
A tiny heart hung from it.
On the back were two engraved letters.
C.H.
“Your mother wore this,” Eleanor whispered.
“She asked me to give it to you when you were old enough to understand where you came from.””
I touched the bracelet.
It was cool against my fingers.
“Why did Grandpa keep it?””
“Because he knew Richard might destroy it.””
Mr. Bennett looked up sharply.
“Eleanor, did Harold tell you anything else about Daniel?””
She hesitated.
Then she reached into her handbag again.
This time, she removed a folded letter.
“Harold gave me this six months ago. He told me not to open it unless something happened to him.””
Mr. Bennett took it.
The envelope was old.
The paper had softened around the edges.
My grandfather's handwriting appeared on the front.
For Eleanor. Only if Richard denies the truth.
Mr. Bennett opened it.
He read the first paragraph silently.
Then his expression changed.
“What?”” I asked.
He continued reading.
His hand began to tremble slightly.
“Mr. Bennett?””
He looked at Eleanor.
“Harold found him.””
“Found who?””
“Daniel.””
Eleanor gripped the edge of the table.
“Where?””
Mr. Bennett lowered the letter.
“Your biological father.””
I stood so quickly that the chair scraped against the floor.
“Is he alive?””
Mr. Bennett nodded.
Eleanor began to cry again.
“Where is he?””
Mr. Bennett read the final lines.
Then he turned the paper around.
There was an address written beneath Grandpa's signature.
Not overseas.
Not in another country.
It was in our state.
Less than an hour away.
I stared at it.
My father—the man whose face I had never seen, whose voice I had never heard—had apparently been living close enough to drive to Grandpa's house.
“Why didn't he come?”” I whispered.
Mr. Bennett folded the letter.
“Harold believed he had been deliberately kept away.””
“By Richard?””
He didn't answer.
Instead, he reached for another document.
It was a copy of a bank transfer.
The date was eleven years earlier.
The amount was large.
The sender was Richard Collins.
The recipient was Daniel Hayes.
And beneath the amount was a short note.
Final payment. No further contact with Claire's child.
Eleanor covered her mouth.
I stared at the paper.
My father hadn't simply lied about my mother's death.
He had paid someone to disappear from my life.
Or at least, that was what the document appeared to say.
“Is this real?”” I asked.
Mr. Bennett nodded.
“It appears to be an authentic banking record. We'll need to verify the surrounding circumstances.””
I looked at Eleanor.
“Did Grandpa know?””
“He suspected.””
“Then why didn't he tell me?””
Her eyes filled again.
“Because he was afraid the truth would destroy the family before he could protect you.””
I looked down at the silver bracelet.
For years, I had believed my family was small because my mother had died and my father was busy.
Now I was learning that people had been making decisions about my life without ever asking what I wanted.
I was twelve.
I wanted my mother.
I wanted Grandpa.
And I wanted someone to explain why loving me had apparently required so many secrets.
Mr. Bennett gathered the documents.
“We need to take this information to the appropriate authorities. Until then, no one should confront Richard alone.””
Eleanor nodded.
“I agree.””
Sarah placed a gentle hand on my shoulder.
“You'll have somewhere safe to stay tonight.””
I looked at the address on the letter.
“Can I meet Daniel?””
Mr. Bennett studied me.
“We need to confirm his identity and arrange everything properly.””
“But can I?””
He nodded.
“If he's willing, and if the necessary arrangements are made, yes.””
For the first time that day, I felt something other than grief.
Hope.
Small.
Fragile.
But real.
Then Mr. Bennett's phone vibrated.
He checked the screen.
A message had arrived from an unknown number.
He read it once.
Then again.
His face went pale.
“What is it?”” Eleanor asked.
He turned the phone toward her.
The message contained only one sentence.
If Maya meets Daniel, tell her to ask him what happened the night Claire died.
Below it was an attachment.
A photograph.
It showed my mother standing outside a hospital entrance, holding her stomach.
Beside her was Richard.
But that wasn't what made my blood run cold.
Standing several feet behind them was Daniel Hayes.
And he was holding a little girl.
May you like
A girl who looked exactly like me.
*End of Chapter 5.*
