Chapter 8 - THE MOTHER WHO CAME BACKThey found Maria at an old church outside Philadelphia.
She was sitting beneath a stained-glass window.
Her wrists were bruised.
But she was alive.
Ethan ran toward her.
“Where's my son?”
Maria looked at him.
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“Your mother has him.”
Ethan froze.
“My mother?”
Maria nodded.
“She took him to protect him.”
“From whom?”
“Your family.”
Ethan's grandmother appeared behind him.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
She stood at the church entrance.
“You're not taking him.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“You killed Rebecca.”
“I saved this family.”
“You kidnapped my son.”
“I saved your son.”
“You destroyed innocent lives.”
She looked at him.
“You don't understand what happens when the truth comes out.”
“I don't care.”
“You will.”
She raised her hand.
A man stepped from behind the church.
He carried a folder.
Inside were photographs of Ethan's father.
And Rebecca.
And a baby.
Then one final photograph.
Ethan's mother.
Holding the same baby.
The grandmother whispered:
“Your mother betrayed us.”
Ethan stared.
“She saved the child.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew the truth.”
“What truth?”
The grandmother's voice became cold.
“Your father wasn't the child's father.”
Ethan froze.
“Then who was?”
She smiled.
“Rebecca's husband.”
Ethan looked confused.
“Rebecca was married?”
“No.”
She paused.
“That's the problem.”
The truth was finally revealed.
Rebecca had discovered that Ethan's grandfather had been secretly adopting children from vulnerable families.
Some parents were coerced.
Some were paid.
Some were threatened.
Rebecca found the records.
She tried to expose them.
But one child was different.
The child carried genetic evidence linking the family to a crime committed decades earlier.
That child became dangerous.
The family decided he had to disappear.
Rebecca tried to save him.
She failed.
Or so everyone believed.
The child survived.
And twenty-four years later, he had a son.
Ethan's son.
The bloodline had come full circle.
Ethan stared at Maria.
“Who is the child's real father?”
Maria whispered:
“Your brother.”
Ethan froze.
“I don't have a brother.”
May you like
Maria looked at him.
“You did.”
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