Like Mother, Like Daughter

Chapter Two - Visions of the past

Thank you all for coming back! I understand that there are some typos and miss spelled words here and there. I do have a spell check and I go through it multiple times before publishing. I from experience know that it can sometimes be kinda annoying when things were misspelled when your reading. I'll try to do a better job catching them though.

But anyway hope you like this chapter!

He nods. "I think we're looking at a much larger case here Ms. Corcoran."

Tears prick Shelby's eyes. She knew deep down since she found Rachel and read the letter that things beyond her knowledge happened during her daughter's time with the Berry men but she just didn't want to accept it.

Rachel has been her baby girl, the person she loved most in this world or any other since Shelby found out she existed. Even when Shelby thought she was dead Rachel always was in her heart. She was always loved by her mother.

So for Shelby to find out that the men she trusted with her daughter, to love, to raise, to care for, to at the very least treat with common decency, hurt her daughter. Saying it breaks her heart is an understatement.

Never in a million years would she have thought her daughter was out there in the world being abused and treated so poorly.

Shelby doesn't share that with the officer though. She simply nods sadly and holds on tighter to Rachel pulling her into her more.

"I'll take a quick look over the papers but I'd like to get your number so we can meet again. This is something really serious, and those men need to pay the consequences for your daughter's mental and physical abuse."

Shelby nods. "I understand. Thank you for your help Detective." Shelby says gratefully to the man.

"I'm just doing my job." He says with a smile.

Shelby hands over the custody papers to Detective McAllister. He reads through the papers and then the signatures. Then looks up at her. "Ms. Corcoran, these aren't real papers." He says as Shelby's face falls. "What?" She chokes out.

"But because they are fake I wouldn't be surprised if they also forged whatever they made you sign to take away your rights and custody over your daughter. If you bring it in then we can take a look over those and see if they are in fact fake too." Shelby nods.

"We do need to make sure you are her biological mother though so we can prove that you still have custody of her. I'll do some quick DNA swabs quickly and get them sent over to the lab."

"My understanding is that if what they had you sign was fake then you never lost your rights as her mother." He explains.

"Yes, that makes sense. I brought all the papers from my surrogacy actually." Shelby says, pulling some papers out of her purse.

He takes them and begins looking through them. After a couple of medical papers, files and other sorts of papers he reaches the contract. The very contract she signed three years ago. Shelby had memorized every word on it during her pregnancy.

Of course it didn't really mean anything after she thought the baby died but it still stayed in the brown box at the top of her closet never to be opened again. Or until now that is.

"Yep, just as I thought. This technically was drawn up by a lawyer and could have been for real except it was never okayed and set in place by a judge" He says.

"But couldn't it have just never made it in because it was said she was dead." Shelby asks. He looks up from his paper at the new found information she has just shared. "Wait, were you told your daughter died?" He asks. Shelby nods.