Chapter 164: What’s taken
It was Saturday morning, the kind that used to mean peace. But peace hadn’t belonged to Ethan for a long time.
The sun filtered lazily through the tall windows of his mansion, casting long shadows over the marble floors. Andrew’s laughter rang out from the hallway, sharp and sweet, like sunlight cutting through mist.
Ethan sat on the edge of the leather couch, coffee cooling in his hand, but his eyes weren’t on the boy—they were on the night before at the Shepherd mansion. The way the firelight flickered in those grand rooms, the quiet moments he stared at Mara, her uncertain smile, the way her fingers had curled around Andrew’s tiny ones the night she’d held him, and her brother’s conversation.
He didn’t know for sure—not yet—but something deep in his gut told him the truth was about to rip open his world.
She’s his mother
He’d gone over the timeline again and again, traced every whisper and gap in memory like a private investigator in his own life. The DNA results were due any day. But Ethan already knew what he’d say when they arrived.
Mara, he’s yours. You’re his mother. We’re... His jaw tensed. Could he even finish that thought?
He was pulled out of it by the sharp buzz of the intercom. Then came pounding on the door. Urgent. Unforgiving.
Ethan frowned, rising to his feet, setting the coffee aside. Andrew peeked out from behind the hallway wall, his stuffed dinosaur clutched to his chest.
"Stay there, buddy," Ethan said gently.
He walked to the door and opened it—and the sight on the other side punched the air from his lungs.