Chapter 6 - The Baby in the Other RoomAlexandre read the sentence three times.
Elise was not the child Victor had been trying to hide.
What did that mean?
He searched the folder.
Among the documents was a hospital admission record dated September 3, 1997.
Two female infants had been admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit that morning.
One was Elise Beaumont.
The other was listed as Baby Girl Laurent.
Alexandre froze.
Laurent.
He reached for his phone and called Sofia.
She answered after the second ring.
“Alexandre?”
“I need you to tell me something.”
“What?”
“When were you born?”
“September 3, 1997.”
His blood turned cold.
“The same day as Elise?”
“Yes.”
Alexandre stared at the record.
“Were you born in Lyon?”
Sofia hesitated.
“Yes. Why?”
Alexandre closed his eyes.
“Sofia, I think you need to come to my father's office.”
An hour later, Sofia arrived with Genevieve and Thomas.
Alexandre placed the hospital record on the desk.
Sofia examined it.
Then she looked at Genevieve.
“We were born on the same day?”
Genevieve nodded slowly.
“I remember another woman in the maternity ward.”
Sofia's heart pounded.
“My mother?”
Genevieve looked uncertain.
“I never saw her face.”
Thomas examined the records.
“Both infants were admitted within forty minutes of each other.”
Alexandre pointed toward a handwritten notation.
“Look at this.”
Beside Elise's name was the number 14.
Beside Baby Girl Laurent was the number 15.
Thomas frowned.
“Those appear to be nursery identification numbers.”
Sofia looked confused.
“What does that mean?”
Thomas hesitated.
“It means we need to verify whether the hospital correctly identified both babies.”
Genevieve went pale.
“No.”
Alexandre looked at her.
“Mom?”
“No.”
She stood abruptly.
“That isn't possible.”
Sofia stared at the records.
Her entire life suddenly felt unstable.
Was Henri truly her father?
Was Camille her biological mother?
Had Elise been taken?
Or had the hospital confused two infants?
Thomas raised a hand.
“We cannot draw conclusions from these documents alone.”
Alexandre nodded.
“We need DNA testing.”
Sofia looked toward Genevieve.
For the first time, the possibility of sharing a biological connection with the woman who had humiliated her felt terrifying.
Genevieve sat down.
“I don't understand.”
Thomas spoke carefully.
“There may have been a deliberate switch, or the records may simply contain errors. We need independent verification.”
Sofia looked at Alexandre.
“And Claire?”
“We need to find her.”
The following morning, Thomas arranged for the family to provide DNA samples through an accredited laboratory.
He also requested archived medical records and contacted authorities about Claire's disappearance.
Meanwhile, Sofia returned to Camille's notebook.
She had read it dozens of times.
But now she noticed a small folded page near the back.
Inside was a letter written in Camille's handwriting.
My dearest Sofia,
If you are reading this, it means the truth has finally begun to surface.
There are things I wanted to tell you but never knew how.
You were loved from the moment I first held you.
Whatever you discover about your birth, please remember that nothing can change the years we shared.
Sofia's eyes filled.
She continued.
There was another baby in the hospital.
I heard her crying through the wall.
And I remember a nurse telling someone that the Beaumont child had been moved.
I never understood why.
But years later, when I discovered the adoption records, I began to suspect that someone had lied to both families.
Sofia pressed the letter against her chest.
Her mother had known.
Or at least suspected.
And she had carried that uncertainty alone.
The next paragraph was harder to read.
I am afraid that if I tell you everything, you will believe I stole your life from you.
But I never stole anything.
I was given a baby and told she was mine.
And I loved her with everything I had.
Sofia began sobbing.
Alexandre found her sitting on the floor beside the library window.
He knelt beside her.
“Sofia?”
She handed him the letter.
He read it silently.
Then he placed an arm around her shoulders.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Finally, Sofia whispered, “What if my whole life was a mistake?”
Alexandre shook his head.
“You weren't a mistake.”
“But everything I believed—”
“Your mother loved you.”
Sofia looked at him.
“That doesn't change.”
He held her hand.
“And whatever the test says, you don't have to face this alone.”
Three days later, the preliminary DNA results arrived.
Thomas called Alexandre immediately.
His voice was strained.
“Alexandre, you need to come to my office.”
“Why?”
“Because the results are not what we expected.”
Alexandre felt his stomach tighten.
“What did they show?”
Thomas paused.
Then he spoke.
“Sofia is not Henri Beaumont's biological daughter.”
Alexandre stared at the wall.
May you like
Before he could respond, Thomas continued.
“But she is Genevieve Beaumont's daughter.”
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