Chapter 5 - The Adoption PaperRebecca requested documents immediately.
Vivienne refused.
Celeste claimed all files were sealed.
Adrian made one phone call to the Westbrook Foundation’s records director. His voice was quiet, but every person in the room understood that quiet did not mean weakness.
“Send me Noah’s birth file. Now.”
Vivienne laughed too loudly. “You can’t just demand confidential medical records in the middle of a party.”
“I’m his legal father,” Adrian said.
Clara looked down.
Legal.
The word wounded her.
Twenty minutes later, a scanned file arrived on Rebecca’s tablet.
She read it once.
Then again.
Her expression changed.
Adrian noticed. “What?”
Rebecca placed the tablet on the table.
“Noah’s adoption paperwork lists the biological mother as Clara Bennett.”
Clara’s hand flew to her mouth.
Vivienne went completely still.
Adrian stared at the screen.
“And the consent signature?” he asked.
Rebecca zoomed in.
Clara looked at it and shook her head instantly. “That is not my signature.”
Celeste said, “Many women forget what they sign under emotional stress.”
Clara’s eyes flashed. “I remember every paper they shoved in front of me. I signed a release to view his body. I signed counseling forms. I never signed away my son.”
Noah whispered, “You didn’t leave me?”
Clara broke.
“No, baby. Never.”
Noah climbed into her lap and wrapped his arms around her neck.
Vivienne turned away, but not before Adrian saw the fury in her eyes.
Rebecca scrolled further. “There is also a witness signature. Dr. Milton Graves.”
Celeste’s mouth tightened.
Adrian looked at his mother. “Your personal physician.”
“He delivered many children.”
“And forged many signatures?”
Celeste’s eyes sharpened. “Be careful.”
Adrian stood slowly. “No. You be careful.”
The room changed.
For the first time, Celeste Westbrook did not control her son by inheritance, reputation, or guilt. Adrian’s attention had narrowed to one thing: the child he loved and the mother someone had stolen from him.
Vivienne stepped forward, her voice softer now. “Adrian, please. Think about what this will do to Noah. I raised him.”
Noah looked at her.
“You told me my real mommy didn’t want me.”
Vivienne’s eyes filled with tears, but they looked rehearsed.
“I said what I had to say because you were too young to understand.”
Clara stared at her. “Too young to understand what? That you took him?”
Vivienne’s face twisted.
“I saved him.”
Those three words told Adrian everything.
May you like
She did not deny it.
She justified it.
Related Stories
