Chapter 6: The Original File

Amelia couldn't take her eyes off Victoria.

The older woman quickly locked her phone and slipped it into her handbag, but the damage was already done. Amelia had seen enough to understand that someone was warning Victoria about her.

“Who sent that message?” Amelia demanded.

Victoria looked away. “It doesn't concern you.”

“Someone just told you to stop me from finding an original file. What file?”

Alexander stepped closer to his mother. “I want an answer too.”

Victoria took a deep breath. “You both need to calm down. You're making assumptions based on a message you weren't supposed to see.”

“Then explain it,” Alexander replied.

“I can't.”

“Or you won't?”

Victoria said nothing.

Amelia picked up the hospital photograph and placed it inside her handbag. “I'm going to find Dr. Rachel Morgan. If she knows anything about my past, she can tell me herself.”

“You shouldn't go looking for her,” Victoria warned.

“Why? Are you afraid she'll tell me something?”

Victoria's silence was enough to make Amelia suspicious.

Alexander took out his phone and called Daniel, his private investigator.

“I need you to arrange a meeting with Dr. Rachel Morgan. As soon as possible. And find out whether the hospital still has Amelia's original medical file.”

He ended the call and turned towards Amelia.

“I'll go with you.”

She nodded, but her attention remained on Victoria.

There was something strange about the way the older woman looked at her. It wasn't simply dislike. It was fear mixed with guilt.

And Amelia wanted to know why.

---

The following morning, Daniel arrived at the Hayes residence with a brown folder.

He was a tall man in his early forties, with a calm expression and a habit of studying people before speaking.

“I found something,” he announced.

Alexander immediately took the folder.

“About Rachel?”

“Partly. She worked at St. Mary's Hospital three years ago. She left two weeks after Amelia's last recorded visit.”

Amelia leaned forward. “Did you find her current address?”

“Yes. But there's something more important.”

Daniel removed a printed document.

“The hospital's records department confirmed that Amelia's file was requested shortly after she disappeared. The request was authorised by someone using Mrs. Hayes's personal identification.”

Alexander slowly turned towards his mother.

Victoria, who had been standing near the staircase, looked uncomfortable.

“Mother, did you remove my wife's hospital records?”

“I didn't remove anything.”

“Then why was your identification used?”

“I don't know!”

Daniel cleared his throat.

“There's another issue. The hospital says the original file wasn't destroyed. It was transferred to a private storage facility.”

Amelia's heart began beating faster.

“Where is it?”

Daniel hesitated.

“I'm still trying to confirm that.”

Alexander closed the folder.

“Find it.”

Daniel nodded and left.

Victoria immediately approached her son.

“You need to stop involving strangers in this matter.”

“Daniel is doing his job.”

“And what if his investigation exposes something that should remain private?”

Alexander's expression hardened.

“Then perhaps it shouldn't have been hidden.”

Victoria looked at Amelia before walking away.

---

Later that afternoon, Amelia returned to her apartment. She had barely entered when her phone rang.

It was Daniel.

“Amelia, I found the storage facility.”

She sat down.

“Did you find the file?”

“Not yet. But I discovered that someone visited the facility yesterday and requested access to the records connected to your name.”

“Who?”

“I'm checking the identity now. However, there's something you should know. The person left a message for you.”

Amelia straightened.

“What message?”

Daniel paused.

“He said you should remember what happened before the wedding.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don't know. But he also mentioned a place called Rosewood Clinic.”

Amelia repeated the name quietly.

Rosewood Clinic.

Something stirred in her mind. A white hallway. A door closing. Someone calling her name.

Then the memory disappeared.

“Daniel, find out everything about that clinic.”

“I will. But please don't go there alone.”

The call ended.

Amelia stood and walked towards her bedroom. She needed to check the photographs again, hoping there was something she had overlooked.

As she opened the drawer, her fingers touched a small piece of paper hidden beneath the lining.

She pulled it out.

It was an old receipt from Rosewood Clinic.

Three years earlier.

Her name was written at the top, followed by a date and a handwritten note.

Patient requested that all information remain confidential.

Below it was another name.

Emergency contact: Sophie Bennett.

Amelia stared at the paper.

Sophie had never told her she was connected to the clinic.

Her phone vibrated.

An incoming message appeared from Sophie.

I know you've started investigating. Please, Amelia, don't go to Rosewood Clinic.

Before Amelia could respond, another message arrived.

This one contained a photograph.

It showed Amelia standing outside the clinic three years ago.

Beside her was Alexander.

But the man standing behind them was someone she had never expected to see.

Her father.

The same father Sophie had always insisted was dead.