Chapter 3 - THE CHILD WHO NEVER EXISTED
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I couldn't breathe.
“Our son?”
My mother closed the door.
Marcus stood silently.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then she walked toward me and placed an old photograph on the blanket.
A little boy stood beside my father.
He was about six years old.
Dark hair.
Gray eyes.
A small scar above his left eyebrow.
I stared at the photograph.
“Who is he?”
My mother’s lips trembled.
“His name was Noah.”
“Was?”
She nodded.
“Your brother.”
The monitor beside my bed began beeping faster.
I shook my head.
“No. I was an only child.”
“That is what they wanted you to believe.”
My mother sat down.
“When you were born, your father discovered Victor Thorne had been stealing from the company. But Victor had something your father didn't know.”
She looked at Marcus.
“Victor had connections inside the hospital.”
I felt cold.
“Why?”
“Because Noah was born with a congenital heart condition. Your father refused to let Victor use company money to cover an illegal medical operation.”
My mother’s voice cracked.
“So Victor took Noah.”
I stared at her.
“They told us he died.”
“But he didn't.”
She reached into her handbag.
Another photograph.
This one showed a teenage boy.
The same eyes.
The same scar.
And beside him stood a young Damian Thorne.
My blood ran cold.
“Damian knew him.”
“He did more than know him,” my mother whispered.
“He grew up with him.”
Marcus finally spoke.
“Clara, there's another problem.”
He opened his laptop.
A surveillance photograph appeared.
Damian was standing outside a private medical facility in Switzerland.
Beside him was an older man.
And behind them—
Noah.
Alive.
I couldn't move.
“Where is he now?”
Marcus looked at the timestamp.
“New York.”
My mother grabbed my hand.
“He contacted me six months ago.”
I looked at her.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because he told me Damian was watching you.”
The room suddenly felt smaller.
Five years.
Five years of marriage.
Five years of Damian pretending to love me.
Five years of him controlling my finances, my schedule, my friendships.
And now I understood.
He wasn't simply trying to take my company.
He had been searching for something.
Or someone.
“Why did Damian marry me?”
My mother looked down.
“Because Victor believed the Blackwood Trust would never activate unless you married into the Thorne family.”
I froze.
“So the marriage…”
“Was a trap.”
Marcus's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed immediately.
“Clara…”
“What?”
“The surveillance team just lost Noah.”
“Where?”
“Outside the hospital.”
My blood ran cold.
“Who took him?”
Marcus stared at his phone.
“The camera caught one person.”
He turned the screen toward me.
Bianca Caldwell.
May you like
She was standing beside Noah.
And she was holding a gun.
