The Secret Hidden in the Recording
Chapter 02 - The Secret Hidden in the Recording
Nora listened to the recording three times before she trusted what she heard.
Celeste had not only discussed switching a sample. She had mentioned emergency guardianship, a private clinic, and a midnight deadline. Every word suggested that the false DNA report was part of something larger than breaking up a marriage.
Nora tried calling Daniel, but his phone went straight to voicemail. Her son’s cries had faded down the hallway, leaving a silence that felt unbearable.
Vivienne returned alone and locked the bedroom door.
“I should have stopped this sooner,” she said.
For months, Celeste had warned Vivienne that Nora was planning to take Daniel’s child and leave the country. She showed private messages, bank transfers, and medical notes. Vivienne believed her until she noticed that several messages used expressions Nora never used. She began recording Celeste secretly, hoping to learn what she wanted.
“The trust changes when Daniel’s first biological child is born,” Vivienne explained. “Control of a large block of company shares passes to Daniel as trustee for the child. Celeste manages the legal filings. If she makes Daniel appear unfit and you appear unstable, she can request an outside guardian.”
“Chosen by her,” Nora said.
Vivienne lowered her eyes. “Yes.”
Nora wanted to hate her, but there was no time. The recording was incomplete, and Celeste could claim it had been edited. They needed proof that the sample had been switched.
Nora remembered Emma Lewis, the private maternity nurse Celeste had dismissed two weeks earlier. Emma had objected when Celeste insisted on moving the birth from the hospital to the Bennett estate.
Vivienne called her.
Emma answered in a whisper. She said she had copied the original prenatal records after seeing Celeste remove a sealed envelope from the doctor’s office. The authentic report confirmed Daniel’s paternity. Emma had planned to give the evidence to Nora that evening.
“But someone broke into my apartment,” Emma said. “They took my laptop.”
“Do you still have a copy?” Nora asked.
There was a pause.
“I hid one inside the baby’s hospital bracelet box.”
Nora looked toward the empty bassinet. The bracelet box was gone.
A message appeared on Vivienne’s phone from Daniel:
THE BABY IS AT THE NORTH WING CLINIC. CELESTE SAYS NORA TRIED TO HURT HIM.
Attached was a photo of a shattered medicine bottle beside Nora’s bed.
Nora stared at the image. The bottle had not been there moments earlier.
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Celeste was not merely stealing control of a trust.
She was building a story in which Nora could lose her child forever.
