Chapter 14 - The Birthday They Never SharedThe television station delayed the interview after Evelyn served an emergency preservation notice.
Candice refused to surrender the ledger.
Charles Morrow appeared beside her voluntarily and claimed Anna’s father created the entire separation plan to protect the family company.
He produced letters, payments, and a recording made before the twins’ birth.
Anna’s father spoke clearly:
“One boy remains with Anna. The other must be raised outside Gabriel Hart’s influence.”
The recording established his intention.
It did not prove Anna agreed.
Morrow insisted Candice was selected as guardian because she had no direct claim to the company.
That claim became false when she married Gabriel.
“She changed the arrangement for personal gain,” Evelyn said.
Morrow answered, “Gabriel invited her into the family.”
Gabriel had married the woman who comforted him through grief.
He never knew she helped create the grief.
Investigators traced the television feed to a private conference center outside Indianapolis. Police vehicles surrounded it but did not complete a final arrest.
Candice watched them arrive through the windows.
She called Gabriel.
“Bring Lucas and Wyatt.”
“No.”
“They deserve to see the originals.”
“They deserve safety.”
“You think Anna is safe because she cries convincingly?”
“She spent twelve years drugged under your guardianship.”
“I kept her alive.”
“You erased her.”
“She would have exposed the twins and frozen both trusts.”
“You wanted the money.”
“I wanted the life she threw away.”
The honesty stunned him.
Candice had envied Anna since college.
Anna had Gabriel, family wealth, and children whose future was guaranteed. Candice had debt, an unstable home, and access to hospital systems powerful people used without consequence.
When Anna asked for help moving Wyatt temporarily, Candice saw an opening.
She delivered the infant to Marlene instead of Gabriel.
Later, she accepted money to maintain the false identity.
Then she watched Gabriel mourn.
At first, she approached him to monitor questions.
Eventually, she wanted him.
“Did you cause the crash?” he asked.
Candice became silent.
“Answer me.”
“Marlene arranged the road.”
“And you?”
“I told her where Anna would be.”
Gabriel closed his eyes.
Candice had not necessarily driven the vehicle.
She had made the attack possible.
Police entered the conference center.
Candice locked herself inside a document room with the hospital ledger. Morrow remained in the hall, demanding immunity.
No final legal resolution appeared.
Evelyn negotiated through the door.
“Preserve the ledger, Candice. Destroying it will not erase the DNA.”
Candice laughed.
“The ledger is not about DNA.”
“What is it about?”
“Which woman authorized the transfer.”
She pushed one page beneath the door.
It contained Anna’s signature and a handwritten instruction:
Keep Baby B away from Gabriel until I contact you. Do not tell him the child survived.
Anna stared at the transmitted image from the hospital.
“That isn’t what I wrote.”
The handwriting looked genuine.
Beneath it was a second line in another hand.
If Anna changes her mind, proceed under the father’s authorization.
Gabriel’s signature appeared below.
He had never seen the document.
Yet the notary stamp belonged to Evelyn Monroe.
Gabriel turned toward his attorney.
Evelyn went pale.
“I did not notarize this.”
Candice spoke through the locked door.
“You all think I was the beginning. I was only the person who kept the paperwork.”
The lights inside the conference center went out.
When emergency power returned, the document room was empty.
A service passage beneath the floor led to the parking garage.
Candice had escaped with the original ledger.
On the table she left two items.
Anna’s silver cup.
And a newborn bracelet marked:
May you like
BABY B—GABRIEL HART AUTHORIZED RELEASE.
👉 Candice admitted betraying Anna and enabling the crash, but the forged-looking authorization placed Gabriel’s own name inside the infant-transfer conspiracy.
