The Homeless Boy with His Eyes

Chapter 3: The Son Who Was Taken

Sebastian followed the nurse into an empty staff office.

Her name was Nora Wells. She had retired two years earlier but still came in twice a week to train younger staff. When she saw the birth file, her face changed at once.

"I remember that night," she said. "Because it never felt right."

Sebastian sat across from her. "Tell me everything."

Nora took a breath. "Your wife delivered twins. A girl and a boy. Both babies were alive. The boy was smaller, but he was breathing. I remember clearly because I held him myself."

Sebastian gripped the chair.

"Then why was I told he died?"

Nora looked down. "I don't know the whole story. But your mother arrived before sunrise with your family doctor. There were meetings behind closed doors. Files were pulled. A private transport form was signed. By afternoon, everyone on shift was told there had been a stillbirth."

"And you said nothing?"

"I was a nurse, not a powerful woman," Nora said quietly. "I asked questions. I was warned to stop. A week later, I was transferred."

Sebastian stood and walked to the window. His whole body was shaking.

Claire had died after childbirth. He had spent seven years grieving her and trying to be enough for Lily. All that time, his son had been alive somewhere else.

He turned back. "Do you know who took the baby?"

Nora hesitated. "Not exactly. But I saw one woman carrying him out through the rear wing. She wasn't family. She worked in laundry, I think. Dark hair. Small build. She looked terrified."

"Maria," Sebastian said.

The name finally made sense.

Maria had not been the thief.

She had been the one who took the baby out.

But why?

Back at the house, Lily was asleep in Ethan's room, curled in a chair beside his bed. Ethan sat awake with the lamp on, waiting.

Sebastian pulled up a chair.

"I went to the hospital," he said.

Ethan looked nervous. "Did they say I'm lying?"

"No."

The boy's shoulders relaxed a little.

Sebastian studied him. "Your mother may have taken you out of that hospital. But I don't think she did it to hurt me. I think she believed she was protecting you."

Ethan looked down. "She always said people with money were dangerous. But she never talked bad about you."

Then the house phone rang.

It was Sebastian's lawyer.

"The DNA result came back early," the man said. "There is no uncertainty. Ethan is your biological son."

Sebastian closed his eyes.

For a second, he could not speak.

When he looked up, Ethan was watching him carefully, as if waiting to see whether he would be wanted or rejected.

Sebastian moved closer.

"You are my son," he said.

Ethan blinked hard and looked away.

At that moment, the bedroom door opened.

Evelyn Cole stood there, her face cold and pale.

She looked at Ethan first, then at Sebastian.

"I hoped this day would never come," she said.

Sebastian rose slowly. "You knew."

Evelyn's eyes did not move from Ethan.

"Yes," she said. "And if you want the full truth, you should ask why Maria ran... and what Claire found out before she died."