Chapter Six

​THE BROKEN LINK.

​Emma's POV.

The cool New York air hit my face the moment the clinic doors shut behind me, and I stood on the pavement with my hands trembling as I stared at my own reflection in the glass windows, noticing how my rare white hair caught the sunlight in the exact same way Pearl’s hair did just minutes ago. My heart was racing so fast that I could barely think straight, but I knew I couldn't just sit there and cry because Nathan Zander was incredibly powerful, and he would definitely hide every single piece of evidence if he discovered that I was looking into his daughter's past.

​I pulled my phone out of my bag to call the one person who could actually help me against a billionaire family, and as soon as the line started ringing, I began pacing up and down the sidewalk, praying that he would pick up quickly.

​"Emma, is that you? Your mother just called me ten minutes ago saying you finally reached out, and she told me you said something completely insane about Gina not being your child," Joel’s familiar voice boomed through the speaker, sounding completely stressed out and out of breath.

​"It is true, Joel, because I just ran into the nurse who delivered my baby seven years ago, and she told me my biological daughter supposedly died from a lack of oxygen, but I just found a little girl who looks exactly like me, and she even has the exact same hair color and asthma," I explained rapidly, my voice cracking as I leaned against a nearby lamppost to steady my shaky legs.

​"Wait, slow down for a second because this is a massive accusation, and you are talking about a child dying and a potential hospital swap, so who exactly has this little girl right now?" Joel asked, his tone shifting from disbelief to pure professional seriousness as he heard the panic in my voice.

​"Nathan Zander has her, her name is Pearl, and he just had his security guards throw me out of the clinic because he is completely terrified of me getting close to her or asking questions about where she came from," I whispered, glancing around the street to ensure none of Nathan's men were watching me from the parking lot. "I need you to use every single resource the Quinn family has to discreetly dig into Nathan’s adoption records from seven years ago, and you cannot let anyone find out we are looking, especially not my parents or Nathan himself."

​"Nathan Zander is a dangerous man to cross, Emma, and his legal team is absolutely ruthless, but since you are finally ready to come back to the Quinn empire, I will pull the favors required to get those documents, so just give me forty-eight hours to see what I can find," Joel promised, and before I could even thank him, my phone began vibrating violently in my hand as a loud ringtone cut through our conversation.

​I looked down at the screen to see Derek’s name flashing repeatedly, and my stomach turned with absolute disgust as I told Joel I would call him back later, clicking the green button to answer the call because I wanted to hear what kind of lies my husband was going to tell me this time.

​"Where the hell are you, Emma? Gina is screaming her lungs out, she is throwing a massive tantrum because she wants her stuffed animal from the house, and the doctors are saying her blood pressure is rising because of the stress you caused by walking out," Derek roared into the phone before I could even breathe, his voice filled with so much anger that it made my ears ring.

​"I told you already, Derek, I am done running errands for a child that is not even mine, so if Gina is throwing a tantrum, you should call your precious best friend Vera to come and deal with her since she is the biological mother anyway," I replied coldly, gripping the phone tighter as I walked toward my car, feeling absolutely no guilt for leaving that hospital behind.

​"What garbage are you talking about now? You are losing your mind because you are stressed, and I do not have time for your childish jealousy regarding Vera, so you better get your poor, pathetic self back to this hospital in ten minutes, or I will make sure you regret it," he threatened, his breathing heavy as he completely ignored my words, clearly believing I was just making up stories to get his attention.

​"I am not joking, Derek, because I know everything about what you and Vera did at the clinic seven years ago, and I know my real daughter didn't just disappear, so you can take your threats and your mistress and enjoy the absolute ruin that is coming for Jace's Enterprises," I said, my voice completely calm and deadly as I unlocked my car door and climbed into the driver's seat.

​"Emma, don't you dare hang up on me, you are nothing without my money and my house, and if you walk away from Gina right now, I will divorce you and leave you on the streets with absolutely nothing to your name!" he screamed, his voice cracking with a sudden hint of panic that proved he was terrified of me actually discovering the truth.

​"The divorce papers are already being drafted by the best lawyers in the country, Derek, so save your breath because you will be hearing from them very soon," I stated firmly, and without waiting for him to yell another insult, I pressed the red button to end the call, immediately going into my contacts and blocking his number so he could never reach me again.

​I tossed the phone onto the passenger seat and started the engine, watching the clinic doors through my rearview mirror as I pulled away from the curb, but as I turned the corner toward the main highway, my phone lit up again with an anonymous text message containing a blurry picture of an old medical file from the city central hospital, and my heart stopped completely as I saw my own name written right next to Vera’s under a section labeled emergency room swaps.