Chapter 45: Blood Doesn't Lie
The archive room fell into complete silence.
Dust drifted through the early morning light.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
The amended birth certificate remained spread across the table.
Two fathers.
Two names.
Two completely different truths.
The original record listed Richard Hart.
The amended record listed Charles Hart.
One of them was a lie.
Maybe both.
Amelia stared at her father.
Charles looked devastated.
Like a man watching decades of secrets collapse around him.
"Dad..."
His eyes slowly met hers.
There was pain there.
Regret.
And something else.
Fear.
The kind of fear that comes when the truth can no longer be avoided.
Victor stepped forward.
"Tell them."
Charles laughed bitterly.
A hollow sound.
"I should have told them year
