Chapter 4 - A Daughter on Paper
Claire had been adopted at thirteen. That was the story the Sterlings told everybody, and Claire believed it. A bright foster child. A generous family. A happy ending.
The records I found told a messier story.
The county file listed a temporary guardianship, then a name change, then a private adoption finalized through a judge who had retired under investigation. Claire's birth date had been altered by three weeks. Her original first name was Lily.
When I showed her, she stared so long I thought she couldn't read it.
“Why would they change my birthday?”
“To make it harder for someone to find you.”
“Who?”
I showed her a picture of Rose at twenty-seven. Claire touched the screen.
“I have her eyes.”
We spent the afternoon in my car, outside the county records building, afraid to go home. Claire remembered a woman at her ninth-birthday party who had stood behind a fence, crying. Her father had said it was a stranger looking for money.
“Did he know?” she asked.
“I think he tried to make it right too late.”
She laughed once, without humor. “That's a Sterling family tradition.”
I had my own reason for digging. Two months before I conceived, I had visited a former foundation clinic for a fertility consultation. The doctor said I would need surgery. Then, without explanation, the clinic reversed its decision and recommended an aggressive treatment plan. I had declined, changed doctors, and become pregnant naturally. Still, Vivian kept asking for copies of my medical records.
Claire gripped my wrist. “You think Mom wanted control of your baby?”
“I think she wanted control of everything.”
We took the file to a lawyer who had once represented whistleblowers. Her name was Naomi Brooks. She turned three pages and said, “This isn't just financial fraud.”
“Then what is it?” Claire asked.
Naomi looked at the guardianship order. “Possibly unlawful child placement, falsified hospital records, and conspiracy. But we need someone who was there.”
I said, “Rose Mercer.”
Naomi nodded. “If she's alive.”
That night my office badge stopped working.
The next morning, Daniel told me the board had voted to remove me from the foundation.
May you like
The vote had happened without me.
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