Chapter 10 - THE SON WHO WAS STOLEN
Benjamin Graves had grown up in wealth.
Private schools.
Luxury vacations.
A sports car for his eighteenth birthday.
Charles had introduced him proudly as his only son.
Now records suggested Benjamin might actually be Laura Carter's missing child.
Annie's brother.
I sat in my study, staring at the documents.
It was almost midnight.
My phone rang.
Benjamin.
I answered.
"Nathan?"
"Ben."
His voice sounded uncertain.
"What's going on? Dad called me. He says you're investigating the family."
I closed my eyes.
"Where are you?"
"At my apartment."
"Are you alone?"
"Yes."
I took a breath.
"Ben, there's something we need to talk about."
He laughed nervously.
"You're scaring me."
"I don't want to explain something this important over the phone. Can you meet me tomorrow with your own lawyer present?"
A long pause followed.
"Why would I need a lawyer?"
"Because some old family records raise questions about your adoption."
Silence.
Then Benjamin whispered, "What adoption?"
My stomach tightened.
He didn't know.
Charles had never told him.
"Ben..."
He interrupted.
"Nathan, what are you saying?"
I looked at the photograph on my desk.
Laura.
Baby Benjamin.
Charles.
Patricia.
A carefully constructed lie.
"I'm saying we need to verify some records about your birth."
Benjamin's breathing changed.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then he whispered, "Dad told me Mom died giving birth to me."
I closed my eyes.
"I'm sorry."
The following morning, Benjamin arrived with an independent attorney.
He looked pale.
Annie and Laura waited in a separate room.
Nobody wanted to force a reunion before Benjamin understood what was happening.
Rebecca explained the documents carefully.
The original birth record.
The altered guardianship paperwork.
The suspicious adoption filing.
Benjamin stared at the pages.
Then he asked, "Is Laura alive?"
I nodded.
"Yes."
His eyes filled.
"Does she know about me?"
"She has been searching for you for nineteen years."
Benjamin covered his mouth.
A long silence followed.
Then he whispered, "I want to meet her."
The reunion happened an hour later.
Laura entered the room slowly.
The moment she saw Benjamin, she stopped.
"Oh, my God."
Benjamin stood.
His hands trembled.
"Are you..."
Laura began crying.
"Benjamin?"
He crossed the room.
She opened her arms.
And a mother held the son she'd spent nineteen years believing she would never see again.
Annie stood beside me.
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
"That's my brother."
I nodded.
"Yes."
She approached them.
Benjamin looked at her.
"Annie?"
She smiled through tears.
"Hi."
He laughed shakily.
"I always wanted a sister."
She wrapped her arms around him.
"Well, you got one."
For a moment, everything felt right.
Then Benjamin's phone rang.
Charles.
He stared at the screen.
His expression hardened.
He answered.
"Dad?"
Charles's voice came through the speaker.
"Benjamin, listen to me. Whatever Nathan has told you, it's a lie."
Benjamin looked toward Laura.
Then Annie.
Then me.
For the first time in his life, he didn't obey.
"Did you steal me?"
Silence.
May you like
Then Charles whispered something that made everyone freeze.
"I saved you from the truth about your real father."
