CHAPTER 1 — The Boy Who Refused to Go Home
Every nurse in St. Mary's Hospital remembered the little boy.
Not because he was loud.
Not because he caused trouble.
But because every single evening, after visiting hours ended, six-year-old Ethan wandered the empty hallways alone with an oversized backpack hanging from his tiny shoulders.
Nobody knew where his parents were.
Nobody knew why he always carried a folded children's blanket tucked under his arm.
When the security guard finally stopped him one rainy evening, Ethan simply whispered,
"I'm looking for my mommy."
The nurse checked every patient list.
No woman by that name.
No child registered.
No emergency contact.
Nothing.
Feeling sorry for him, they offered to call the police.
But before anyone could, Ethan quietly slipped away through the hospital's back exit.
No one noticed.
Until one exhausted nurse looked out the window.
The tiny boy was already disappearing into the pouring rain.
The city streets became darker with every step.
Cars splashed dirty water onto the sidewalk while Ethan hugged his backpack tightly.
He wasn't lost.
He was following something.
A memory.
Earlier that afternoon, he had seen a frightened young woman leaving the maternity ward.
She wasn't carrying flowers.
She wasn't carrying luggage.
She was holding a newborn wrapped inside a faded green blanket.
And she kept looking over her shoulder as if someone was hunting her.
Ethan couldn't explain it...
But the blanket looked exactly like the one his mother used to wrap around his baby sister before she disappeared months ago.
He had never forgotten that color.
Never.
So he followed her.
Block after block.
Street after street.
Until she disappeared into one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city.
Finally...
He spotted her again.
She slipped into a narrow alley between two abandoned buildings.
Heart pounding, Ethan followed.
The alley was silent.
Only one flickering streetlight remained.
Then...
He heard it.
A woman crying.
Not quietly.
The kind of crying that sounded like someone saying goodbye forever.
Ethan slowly peeked around a rusted dumpster...
And froze.
The young woman was kneeling on the cold pavement...
Holding the tiny baby against her chest...
Whispering through tears,
"I'm so sorry... I can't protect you anymore..."
Ethan's hands began to shake.
Because hidden beneath the baby's green blanket...
He saw something that made his blood run cold.
A tiny silver bracelet...
With the name...
May you like
"Lily."
The exact same name as his missing baby sister.
