Chapter 2 - THE SECRET INSIDE MY FAMILYThe words kept repeating in my head.
“The baby was never supposed to be born.”
I stared at Ethan.
He was still holding the phone.
His face had gone completely still.
And that scared me more than anger.
Ethan was the kind of man who reacted quickly.
When our car broke down in the rain, he fixed it.
When I cried after losing my job, he held me.
When my pregnancy became difficult, he changed everything about his life to make things easier for me.
But now…
he wasn’t reacting.
He was thinking.
And I knew something terrible was happening.
“What did she mean?”
I whispered.
Ethan looked at me.
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
He sighed.
“Rachel…”
“No.”
My voice shook.
“She said our baby was never supposed to be born.”
A pause.
“Those aren’t random words.”
Ethan looked away.
Because he knew I was right.
The doctor returned before he could answer.
“Rachel, we need to keep monitoring you and the baby overnight.”
I immediately asked:
“Is my daughter okay?”
The doctor gave a small nod.
“Right now, her heartbeat is stable.”
I closed my eyes.
Relief hit me so hard that tears came instantly.
“Can I hear it?”
The doctor smiled slightly.
“Of course.”
A few seconds later…
the sound filled the room.
Fast.
Small.
Alive.
My daughter.
I grabbed Ethan’s hand.
“She’s okay.”
He nodded.
But his eyes were somewhere else.
Still thinking about Lauren.
After the doctor left, Ethan sat beside me.
“We need to talk.”
I looked at him.
“About what?”
“Your family.”
I already knew.
For years, I had defended them.
Even when Lauren competed with me.
Even when my parents treated her like she could do no wrong.
I always told myself:
“They’re still my family.”
But today…
my family watched me fall.
And nobody moved.
“What are you thinking?”
I asked.
Ethan took a deep breath.
“I think the argument today wasn’t about what they said it was about.”
I frowned.
“They said it was about the inheritance.”
“Yes.”
“Grandpa’s trust.”
He nodded.
My grandfather had passed away six months earlier.
Before he died, he created a trust.
A trust that would become permanent after my daughter was born.
The money wasn’t enough to change the world.
But it was enough to change my family’s lives.
And my grandfather made one thing very clear.
The trust belonged to me and my child.
Not my parents.
Not Lauren.
My daughter.
“They wanted the baby gone before the trust became permanent.”
Ethan said quietly.
My stomach tightened.
“No.”
“I don’t want to believe that either.”
“But everything points there.”
Suddenly…
my hospital room door opened.
My mother walked in.
Alone.
The moment I saw her, my body became tense.
She looked tired.
Not guilty.
Tired.
“Rachel.”
I didn’t answer.
She looked at Ethan.
“Can I talk to my daughter?”
Ethan didn’t move.
“No.”
My mother frowned.
“This is family.”
Ethan’s expression hardened.
“That word has been used a lot today.”
A pause.
“Funny how nobody remembered it when Rachel was lying on the grass.”
My mother looked hurt.
But she didn’t apologize.
That told me everything.
“Your sister made a mistake.”
I stared at her.
“A mistake?”
My voice cracked.
“She kicked my pregnant stomach.”
My mother lowered her voice.
“She didn’t mean to hurt the baby.”
I looked at Ethan.
Then back at her.
“How do you know?”
Silence.
A small one.
But I noticed.
“How do you know what she meant?”
I asked.
My mother looked away.
And for the first time…
I wondered if she had known about Lauren’s plan before today.
“Mom.”
She looked at me.
“What happened?”
Her eyes filled.
But she still didn’t answer.
Then Ethan’s phone vibrated.
A message.
He opened it.
His expression changed.
“What?”
I asked.
He turned the phone toward me.
It was from Noah.
Our teenage cousin.
The boy who recorded the video.
The message said:
“Mr. Ethan, I need to tell you something before my parents find out.”
A second message appeared.
“The video isn’t the only thing I recorded.”
My heart started beating faster.
Ethan replied immediately.
“What else did you record?”
The typing bubble appeared.
Then disappeared.
Then appeared again.
Finally, Noah sent:
“I recorded Aunt Lauren talking to your parents before the party.”
Silence.
Ethan looked at me.
“What did they talk about?”
A few seconds later, another message arrived.
A video file.
We pressed play.
The screen showed my parents’ kitchen.
Lauren was sitting at the table.
My father was standing near the counter.
My mother was holding a folder.
The same folder that disappeared after the police arrived.
Lauren’s voice filled the room.
“Once the baby is gone, the trust goes back to us.”
I stopped breathing.
My mother looked at her.
“What if Rachel finds out?”
Lauren smiled.
“She won’t.”
Ethan’s hand tightened around mine.
The video continued.
My father spoke.
“And the documents?”
Lauren answered:
“Already handled.”
A pause.
“After today, everyone will believe Rachel was unstable.”
The video ended.
Nobody spoke.
My mother stood frozen.
Because she knew.
We had seen everything.
I looked at her.
“Mom…”
My voice broke.
“How long?”
She started crying.
“Rachel, please.”
“How long have you known they wanted to hurt my baby?”
She opened her mouth.
No words came.
Then Ethan stood.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
“You need to leave.”
My mother looked at him.
“Ethan—”
“No.”
He pointed toward the door.
“Right now.”
She left.
But before the door closed…
she whispered something that made my blood run cold.
“Rachel…”
“You don’t understand.”
A pause.
“Lauren isn’t the person you should be afraid of.”
The door closed.
I looked at Ethan.
“What does that mean?”
He didn’t answer.
Because at that exact moment…
his phone rang.
Detective Miller.
The police officer handling the case.
Ethan answered.
“Detective?”
A serious voice came through.
“We found something on your sister’s financial records.”
“What?”
A pause.
“Payments.”
“From who?”
The detective lowered his voice.
“Someone who has been paying your family for months.”
Ethan looked at me.
Then the detective said the name.
May you like
And my entire world stopped.
“The payments came from a company owned by your grandfather’s former attorney.”
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