The Parent Trap

Chapter 26: Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Carly Lewis

POV

I knew something was wrong the moment Chase asked me to come to his office after Stella fell asleep. I felt it deep within my soul. A part of me was screaming to turn around and walk out but another part of me was curious as to why.

I don’t after the stunt his wife pulled yesterday, he’s been quiet, even with Stella. When she came back and told us about her day, he was distant and distracted, even with her. I knew something was wrong.

I was a little nervous, I wasn’t sure if it was because of the DNA results or if it was because of the stunt his wife pulled. Believe me I was both confused and stunned. I had no idea how to react. We’d literary just found out Stella was my daughter when she showed up. What if she’d showed up before the DNA test? Would we have believed her? the thought of another woman claiming my child was hers for gain really rubbed me the wrong way.

I didn’t know what his wife was planning, I just hoped it had nothing to do with Stella. Just a couple of weeks ago, I didn’t even know she existed, I lived as an empty shell. Now it feels like my life has meaning. Like losing my memory wasn’t such a bad thing after all. I gained a friend in Koah, a friendship with Chase and I gained a daughter. A brilliant daughter, even if I say so myself.

I sat across from Chase’s desk while he stared at something on his laptop screen. I waited, he didn’t say a word. I just waited for him.

Chase let out a breath. "Honestly I wasn’t even sure if I should show you this. If it might set you back. But after debating over this for a while I decided it would be best to be straight forward with you. I had Michael investigate the day Stella was dropped off..."

My stomach immediately tightened. I wasn’t sure if it was from dread or excitement. "What did he find? Did he find anything?" I ask.

His eyes met mine. "Honestly he found us more questions than answers..." He admits.

I clenched my fists secretly. I didn’t want him to see it was affecting me. I held my head up and asked. "So what did he find?" I ask making sure my voice didn’t break.

Chase didn’t answer my question. He turned his laptop toward me and pressed play on a video.

At first, I didn’t understand what I was looking at. It was a video of a people I didn’t know. There were people walking in the background, could be strangers, visitors, employees. I found nothing unusual.

I’d opened my mouth to question Chase when my breath caught.

Me. Or at least I thought it was me. My hair was black in the video, I had a baseball cap pulled low covering most of my face. What caught my eye was the baby in my arms. In a pink blanket, a contrast to the black I was wearing in the video.

"No..." My trembling hands go up to my mouth, my eyes wide in disbelief.

I watched the woman walk into the building. A part of me broke watching it.

It was a weird feeling, she feels familiar and a stranger at the same time. She didn’t feel like me. But then she was whole. I wasn’t. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

She walked with purpose, she didn’t look confused, she didn’t look scared, she looked determined. She was focused on her goal. She knew exactly what she was doing, why she was there in that moment.

The sight was unsettling. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

I felt like I was going to throw up.

I didn’t recognize the woman in the video. She may look like me. But she wasn’t me. I watched her stop for a second, I saw he hesitate, the way her entire body pulled tight. It told me everything I needed to know. She didn’t want to give her daughter away. It told me she was forced to. I felt bad for the woman, I felt her pain of having to give her daughter to a complete stranger. I looked at the screen as if I was looking at a complete stranger.

Like I was watching a movie on the television, like I was looking at myself. Yet as the tears rolled down my eyes, I knew I felt her pain. It was like my body was going through that pain all over again. It’s like my body remembers even though my mind didn’t. I watched her tense before handing the baby off.

I could see it in the tension of her shoulders. The way she held Stella. The way she lingered. The way she stood still for just a second too long, before she disappeared.

A lump formed in my throat. "She’s trying not to breakdown." My voice came out as barely a whisper.

Chase looked at me. "What?"

I pointed at the screen.

"Look at her. Her entire body is tense, she’s holding the baby tighter than she needs to, her slight hesitation, like she’s trying to convince herself that this is for the best." More tears run down my face. "She doesn’t want to leave Stella..." I say softly.

The realization hit me like a freight train.

I was watching myself. I had just watched the woman I’d once been. And for the first time, I understood something. Whoever I’d once been...

She loved Stella. She loved her enough to leave her. The thought shattered me. Just what was I mixed up in?

"You got all of that from a thirty second video?" Chase asks

I nod looking up at him. "I don’t know how to explain it. But I am able to pick up on subtle cues. Like how the girl she’s giving the baby to, doesn’t really want to but takes the baby anyway, because she was threatened." I tell him.

He frowns. "What?" He asks.

I replay the video. "Watch how the woman leans in and says something. And the girl tenses up and hesitantly takes the baby and only relaxes once the woman’s gone. Something tells me she was threatened..." I point out, I didn’t know how I knew. But I knew she was.

Chase watched the video again but doesn’t say anything.

The video ended.

Silence filled the office.

I couldn’t look away from the screen. the woman on it looked exactly like me. A stranger was wearing my face.

Then Chase handed me a photograph.

I took it.

The picture showed another stranger wearing my face, this time she was blonde, she was in the background once again.

She looked like she was arguing with the man in the picture.

My pulse quickened. "What is this?"

"Six years ago."

I looked up at him.

Chase’s expression seemed colder than usual. I didn’t know if it was my imagination or if he was truly tense.

"That photograph was taken in the same hospital where I was recovering after an injury. Michael looked into it apparently we stayed right next to one another."

I suddenly didn’t know up from down, the room was closing in on me. I couldn’t breathe. I held my chest with one hand and the photograph with the other.

My mind was running wild with theories and connections. I was connected dots where there wasn’t.

Why didn’t Chase remember me? Why have we met more than once yet Chase had no memory of me. What if it wasn’t a coincidence? What if I wasn’t innocent? What if I was dangerous, and that was why I left Stella in Chase’s care? What if all of this wasn’t random? What if I drugged Chase and made him sleep with me? I’ve read many novels where people are drugged and five years later there’s a baby and they don’t remember one another.

It’s starting to sound like those dramas, but with a dangerous twist...

I chill ran down my spine. "What if I was following you?" I ask him, my voice was barely above a whisper.

Chase frowned. "Carly, I don’t think..."

I cut him off "What if I was spying on you?" My voice rose. I stoop up too fast, the chair scraped loudly against the floor. "What if that’s why I was there? Or worse I drugged you into having Stella? I-I. God what did I do?"

Every horrible thought that could possibly come to mind, all came rushing through me. Everything just didn’t make sense.

"What if I was the one who hurt you?" The thought made me sick. "What if I was sent to hurt you and Stella?" I was going to throw up.

"Carly." Chase stepped toward me trying to calm me down, but I was already backing away from him. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t stop the panic rising within me. I was spiralling, I knew that but I couldn’t stop myself. Every fucking clue so far has only put me in a worse light. I wasn’t a good person. I gave my daughter to a complete stranger. I might have hurt Chase and I could possibly have been sent to hurt my daughter too.

"I-I need to get some air." I say before heading out the door. I couldn’t stay in that office for a second longer.

"Carly..." Chase called after me but I was already gone.

I hopped into one of Chase’s cars and drove to Koah’s new apartment. The drive to her apartment was a complete blur. I couldn’t tell you how I got there in one piece.

When her apartment door opened, I just broke down. I couldn’t stop myself.

Koah’s eyes widened. "Carly what’s wrong?" She hugs me.

I broke down even more.

I couldn’t tell you how we made it to the couch but when I was feeling better we were sitting on the sofa.

I told her everything. I didn’t keep anything back. I was struggling.

"I’m Stella’s biological mother."

"Isn’t that good news?" she asks.

"The DNA results came back yesterday." Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks. "They confirmed it. I was happy and disappointed at the same time. I abandoned my child Koah. A defenceless and innocent baby."

Her eyes widened. "Oh Carly I’m sure you had your reasons..." she says, holding my hand.

"I guess, I watched a video of me dropping Stella off. It felt like I was watching a complete stranger."

Koah didn’t say anything she just let me vent.

My hands trembling I explained how I watched the video. How it felt like it wasn’t me. It made me scared of who I might be. Or who I was.

I felt like I’d opened a can of worms, I desperately wanted to close.

Koah sat quietly beside me holding my hand. Squeezing my hand when she thought I was going to break down. Reminding me she was still beside me.

"A part of me knows that woman loved Stella. She must have had her reasons, yet I can’t stop myself from hating her..."

Then I told her everything else the hospital photograph, the time line of everything, how I couldn’t stop the terrible thoughts...

"What if I was spying on Chase? or worse what if I was some sort of spy that wanted to frame him for something?" The words sounded ridiculous after it left my lips.

Koah immediately shook her head. "No. I don’t believe that. I believe there is a reasonable explanation for all of this. Don’t hate yourself before you even know the full story. You need to recover your memories first."

I blinked at her in confusion. "What?"

"Carly. You’re running wild with a piece of the story. You have no idea what happened back then. And neither does Chase. Plus if I’m being honest if you truly were spying on Chase he would have known. Chase is more than just an actor. He was once in the air force." She continued. "I’ve known Chase since we were kids. The man is very paranoid. If you were a threat there is no way he would allow you anywhere near Stella."

I opened my mouth then closed it. Because when she put it that way, I couldn’t refute her. But I wanted to know what the hell is going on. Was it fate? What exactly pulled me to Chase and Stella.

Koah crossed her arms. "And the hospital thing? doesn’t make sense to honest. You were hurt too."

My thoughts slowed slightly.

"The picture doesn’t prove you were following him. All it proves is you were in the same country at the same time."

"I guess." I bite my lip. My thoughts slowed slightly enough for me to feel like I could breathe. "You really think so?" I ask, feeling a little unsure.

"I do." she nods without an ounce of hesitation.

I wished I had her confidence. For the first time since I left Chase’s house, my body relaxed. I wasn’t tense anymore.

Then my phone rang, causing me to jump.

I looked down.

Amy.

My stomach turned. I haven’t spoken to her since I found the safety deposit box.

Koah noticed me tense up. "Everything okay?" she asks.

"Yeah, urh just need to answer this call..." I tell her with a forced smile.

I stood, looking for a place I could answer her call.

"Go answer it." she says.

I nod making my way over to her balcony. I close the sliding door behind me for privacy.

The cool air hits my skin first.

I watched the cars moving below. People were living their lives unaware mine was falling apart and there was little I could do to stop it.

My phone went silent before it started ringing again.

I stared at it for a few seconds before I answered. "Hello?"