Chapter 4 - Shadows Over Manhattan
Ethan stared at his wife, his brain struggling to process the absurd, terrifying claim she had just thrown into the air.
"You're lying," Ethan said flatly, though deep down, a cold knot of dread began twisting in his stomach.
He remembered his father's sudden, unexplained heart attack three years ago in their Hamptons beach house.
He remembered the mysterious men in dark suits who attended the funeral, standing near the back gates without speaking a word.
"I am not lying, Ethan!" Victoria cried out, rushing over to his desk and grabbing a thick leather-bound binder from the bottom drawer.
She slammed the binder onto the glass coffee table, opening it to reveal yellowed newspaper clippings and bank transfer receipts.
"Look at the dates!" Victoria yelled, pointing a French-manicured finger at the ink stamps.
"The surrogate you selected wasn't just a random candidate from an elite agency in California!"
"Her name was Elena Rostova, the daughter of Nikolai Rostov!"
Ethan felt the temperature in the room drop to absolute zero as that infamous surname echoed off the high ceilings.
Nikolai Rostov was the Russian-American shipping mogul who vanished from Wall Street twenty years ago amid federal indictments.
"Elena agreed to be our surrogate because she was hiding under a witness protection identity in San Diego," Victoria explained breathlessly.
"When she gave birth three months ago, Rostov's men tracked her down to the hospital ward."
"They killed her, Ethan... they killed Elena in the delivery room before she could even hold the child."
Ethan gripped his baby closer, his knuckles turning chalky white against the baby's embroidered swaddle.
"And you kept him in a back-room nursery here instead of calling the FBI?!" Ethan shouted in utter horror.
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"Because the FBI is compromised!" Victoria shouted back, her voice cracking with sheer panic.
"The lead agent on the Rostov task force is on their payroll, Ethan! If I reported the birth, they would have taken the boy and executed you!"
