Chapter 10 - The False Victory
I ripped my arm away from Chloe's grip, stepping back to protect my daughter.
The ballroom was in absolute chaos.
Daniel's parents were shouting, his boss was furiously dialing the police, and the waiters were frantically trying to clear the tables.
I had done it.
I had successfully exposed the monster I married and secured my freedom with undeniable proof.
I held my head high and began walking down the long, carpeted aisle toward the hotel lobby.
I felt completely invincible.
I had won the war.
My mother met me at the coat check, wrapping her arms around me in a fiercely protective hug.
She grabbed my coat and told me the car was waiting outside.
We stepped out into the crisp, cool afternoon air.
I took a deep breath, feeling the heavy burden of the last few months finally lift off my shoulders.
I pulled my cell phone from my purse to text Eleanor that the mission was accomplished.
But before I could open my messages, my phone began ringing loudly.
The caller ID displayed the name of the prestigious private hospital where Chloe had delivered her baby.
I frowned, confused as to why they would be calling my personal number.
I answered the phone, assuming it was a billing error regarding the forged emergency contact form.
A stern woman's voice on the other end asked if she was speaking to Jennifer.
I confirmed my name, telling her I was not responsible for any of Chloe's debts.
The woman on the phone went completely silent for a moment.
She nervously explained that she was not calling about billing.
She was the head administrator of the hospital's legal department.
She told me there was a catastrophic complication with the birth certificates filed last month.
The blood work and genetic testing done during the delivery revealed an impossible anomaly.
I stopped walking, my feet freezing to the concrete pavement.
The woman explained that Daniel had not just forged my name on the hospital forms.
He had legally submitted my stolen DNA samples to bypass a federal surrogacy law.
The baby Chloe was holding inside that ballroom was not Daniel's biological child.
The genetic markers confirmed that the child belonged to me and a man I had never even met.
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And according to the federal court order she just received, I was about to be arrested for the kidnapping of my own daughter, Lily.
Before I could even process the words, three black government vehicles aggressively swerved into the hotel driveway, blocking my only exit.
