Chapter 4 - The Mother They Tried to Erase
By noon, Pamela’s face was on every local news station in Chicago.
A photograph from Giovanni’s showed her holding Mia while Roman’s bodyguards surrounded the table.
The headline beneath it read:
WAITRESS CLAIMS COSTELLO TRIPLETS ARE HERS.
Paul Russo gave an interview from the restaurant sidewalk.
“She was always unstable,” he told reporters. “We tried to support her after her pregnancy loss, but she became fixated on other people’s children.”
Pamela watched the interview from a conference room inside Roman’s downtown office.
Her attorney, Grace Bennett, switched off the television.
“Paul has just made himself useful,” Grace said.
Pamela looked up.
“How?”
“He publicly stated that you were pregnant and lost three babies fourteen months ago. That establishes people knew about your pregnancy long before you met Roman.”
Grace was a former federal prosecutor with silver-streaked hair and a voice that never needed to rise.
Roman had hired her before leaving his mother’s estate.
Pamela had insisted Grace represent her alone.
Roman agreed.
“I cannot afford you,” Pamela had said.
“Someone anonymously paid my retainer,” Grace replied.
Pamela looked at Roman.
He said nothing.
Grace placed several folders across the table.
“The emergency order was issued using sealed medical records. Francesca’s attorneys obtained your psychiatric evaluation from Lakeview Memorial.”
“I never had a psychiatric evaluation.”
“You did according to these documents. They claim you experienced delusions after delivery and repeatedly insisted living children had been taken from you.”
Pamela stared at the forged signature.
“They made the truth sound like madness.”
“That was the intention.”
Roman stood near the window, speaking quietly into his phone.
His companies had lost two major contracts by lunchtime. A bank had frozen a line of credit, and members of his board were demanding that he distance himself from Pamela.
He refused.
At two o’clock, Grace received the certified DNA results.
At three, Marco found the nurse from the surveillance video.
Her name was Nora Delgado.
She had left Lakeview Memorial six weeks after the triplets’ birth and moved to Indiana.
At first, she refused to speak.
Then Marco sent her a still image of Pamela unconscious while the bassinets were taken toward the service elevator.
Nora called back.
“I thought she died,” she said.
Pamela gripped the phone.
“Who?”
“You.”
Nora’s voice trembled through the speaker.
“Dr. Mercer said you suffered a fatal hemorrhage. He told the surgical team the children had no surviving parent and were being transferred under an emergency adoption order.”
“I woke up two hours later.”
“I know that now.”
“Why did you leave the hospital?”
“Because I saw you in recovery the next morning.”
The room became silent.
Nora continued.
“I confronted Mercer. He said the records had already been completed and that powerful people would destroy my nursing license if I interfered. Three days later, I found ten thousand dollars in my locker.”
“Did you keep it?”
“No. I put it in an envelope and gave it to hospital security. The next morning, they accused me of stealing medication.”
Grace leaned closer to the phone.
“Do you have evidence?”
“I photographed the money and the note attached to it. I also copied the original neonatal transfer log.”
“Will you testify?”
Nora hesitated.
Pamela closed her eyes.
“Please,” she whispered. “They are still taking my children from me.”
Nora began crying.
“Yes.”
The emergency hearing took place the next morning.
Francesca arrived wearing black, accompanied by five attorneys.
Roman entered through the opposite doors with Pamela.
Reporters shouted questions from behind the barricades.
“Mr. Costello, did you know the children were stolen?”
“Ms. Hayes, are you demanding money?”
“Are you romantically involved?”
Pamela stopped.
She turned toward the cameras.
“I am not asking for Roman Costello’s money.”
The crowd quieted.
“I am asking for the three children I carried, named, and loved before anyone in his family knew they existed.”
Roman stood beside her.
“She is telling the truth.”
Inside the courtroom, Grace presented the DNA results, surveillance footage, forged medical records, and Nora’s neonatal transfer log.
The original log listed the children as:
Baby A Hayes. Baby B Hayes. Baby C Hayes.
The amended version listed them as unidentified infants surrendered through Bellweather Family Services.
Bellweather, investigators discovered, had never been a licensed adoption agency.
It was a shell corporation registered to an accountant employed by Francesca.
Dr. Mercer did not appear in court.
He had left his home before dawn.
The judge vacated the protection order.
Pamela covered her mouth as relief moved through her body.
But the judge did not immediately place the triplets in her sole custody.
“They are biologically Ms. Hayes’s children,” the judge said. “However, they have lived their entire conscious lives in Mr. Costello’s home. A sudden separation from either parental figure may cause serious harm.”
Roman’s attorney rose.
“Mr. Costello is prepared to follow any transition plan recommended by the court.”
Francesca stood without permission.
“Roman is not their parent.”
He looked at her.
“Neither are you.”
The judge ordered Francesca to surrender the children immediately. Pamela and Roman were granted temporary joint guardianship while the criminal investigation and permanent custody proceedings continued.
Francesca was forbidden from contacting them.
Outside the courtroom, Pamela allowed herself to believe the worst was over.
It was not.
Roman’s phone rang as they stepped into the elevator.
Marco listened for several seconds.
His expression changed.
“What happened?” Roman demanded.
Marco lowered the phone.
“The nanny was preparing to bring the children to court. Francesca arrived with two men carrying documents that appeared to be signed by the judge.”
Grace went pale.
“The judge signed no transfer documents.”
“Francesca took them forty minutes ago.”
Pamela felt the floor disappear beneath her.
“Where?”
“We are checking traffic cameras.”
Roman slammed his hand against the elevator wall.
Grace called the police.
Marco received another message.
He opened a photograph taken at a toll booth.
Francesca’s vehicle was heading north toward a private aviation field near the Wisconsin border.
Roman’s father had once owned a plane there.
Pamela stared at the screen.
“She is leaving the country.”
Roman shook his head.
“The plane cannot cross an international border without a flight plan.”
“Unless she already bought the people responsible for checking it.”
The elevator doors opened.
Pamela ran.
She reached the parking garage before anyone else.
Roman caught up and opened the SUV door.
As they climbed inside, Pamela’s phone vibrated.
A blocked number had sent her a photograph.
The triplets were strapped inside an aircraft cabin.
Mia’s face was red from crying.
Beneath the photograph was a message.
A good mother knows when her children are better off without her.
Pamela looked at Roman.
“Your mother thinks I am still the frightened woman she left in that hospital.”
May you like
Roman’s voice turned cold.
“She is about to learn who you became.”
