Chapter 3

Mrs. Whitfield holds the sobbing Mia:

"What are the odds of two siblings being switched at the same time?"

"We specifically chose one of the best private maternity hospitals in the city."

"How could outsiders just walk in and swap two newborns whenever they felt like it?"

Mr. Whitfield nods, his face grim:

"That's right. The babies were under constant supervision."

"How could Mrs. Garrett swap two babies right under everyone's noses? You're pushing this lie way too far."

The guests chime in one after another.

"That's right. Hospital security is that tight. How could two babies be swapped so easily?"

"Swapping one is already hard enough. A whole pair? It doesn't add up."

Seeing everyone taking his side, Derek's panic vanishes:

"You're just jealous of me and Mia being in the Whitfield family. You'll do anything to blow it all up."

Mrs. Garrett steps forward too, sighing like she's the victim:

"I'm just a nanny. How could I possibly switch two newborn babies?"

I stand quietly in place. The cat's voice comes back in my head:

[Back then Mrs. Garrett paid off an orderly on shift that night, and swapped the babies during a scheduled blackout in the middle of the night.]

[The doctor who delivered Mrs. Whitfield's baby knew the whole time. Get the doctor here, and you can expose them on the spot.]

I lift my eyes and look at them coldly:

"On your own, no. But you bribed an orderly in the maternity ward to help you from the inside."

"The doctor from back then witnessed the whole thing."

"If you don't believe me, bring her here right now. We'll settle it face to face."

Derek's pupils shrink. Then he sneers dismissively:

"Still running your mouth."

"After all these years, where are you going to find the doctor?"

Mr. Whitfield turns to the butler at his side and orders in a low voice:

"Dr. Warren was in charge of the delivery at that private hospital back then. Send someone to bring her here."

The butler answers and hurries out. The ballroom goes dead silent.

Derek's fingers unconsciously grip the hem of his suit.

He forces himself to stay calm and murmurs to Mia:

"Don't be scared. She's just pulling some random doctor into this to sound convincing. There's no real evidence."

Mia buries her head, tears falling nonstop.

Mrs. Garrett stands off to the side, head down, shoulders slightly tense.

In just twenty minutes.

The butler leads a middle-aged woman into the hall.

It's Dr. Warren.

Mrs. Whitfield immediately stands and greets her politely:

"Dr. Warren, thank you for coming on such short notice. There's an old matter we'd like to ask you about."

The cat's urgent voice slams into my head:

[Bad news! Mrs. Garrett already got to the doctor early and paid her off with a huge sum of money.]

[She's also using her grandson's school placement as leverage. She won't tell the truth today!]

My heart sinks.

Dr. Warren draws in a deep breath and turns to Mr. and Mrs. Whitfield.

"Sir, ma'am, I was the doctor who handled Mrs. Whitfield's delivery. I was there from start to finish."

"The delivery room was under extremely tight security. There was no way for outsiders to swap the babies."

Derek immediately jumps on it and asks loudly:

"Dr. Warren, so what Nora said about the nanny swapping the babies, it's all a lie, right?"

Dr. Warren nods hard:

"I put the ID bracelets on the babies with my own hands. No one could have taken a baby out at any point."

"Nora cannot be the Whitfields' biological daughter."