“Oh, sweetheart,” she said, reaching for me. “I’ve been praying.”

Alvarez stepped between us. “Ma’am, please wait outside.”

Ryan raised a hand. “We’re not speaking without a lawyer.”

“You’re entitled to one,” Alvarez said calmly. “But we have sufficient cause to ask questions.”

“Questions about what?” Donna snapped.

Alvarez showed her the footage. “Why you were seen carrying an infant out of the maternity hall at 2:17 a.m.”

Her face hardened. “I carried a blanket.”

“We also recovered a hospital bracelet from Nurse Marsh’s locker,” Alvarez added. “Do you know her?”

Donna’s grip tightened on the rosary.

Megan cried out, “Where is my baby?”

“Babies get mixed up,” Donna said coldly. “People need to stop acting hysterical.”

My fists clenched. “Because you planned it.”

Ryan shouted, “Stop—this is insane—”

“Actually,” Alvarez said evenly, “it isn’t.”

An officer entered with an evidence bag. Inside was a bracelet—neither mine nor Megan’s.

Alvarez turned to Ryan. “Your phone records show repeated contact with Nurse Marsh before delivery—and again after you demanded the DNA test.”

Ryan went pale.

Donna snapped, “He was protecting his family!”

“From what?” Alvarez asked. “The truth?”

Then the radio crackled.

“We located Nurse Marsh. Parking garage. She has an infant.”

My knees nearly gave out.

Alvarez met my eyes. “We’re bringing the baby up. Be ready for identification and immediate DNA confirmation.”

Donna smiled thinly. “You’ll thank me,” she whispered. “When you have the right baby.”

And that was when it became clear:

This wasn’t an accident.

It was a choice.