CHAPTER 3 — The Funeral With No Body
Ethan ran until his lungs burned.
Behind him, the city blurred into rain, sirens, and shadows. The woman with the baby had vanished through a broken gate, but her final words stayed trapped in his head.
"Find the house with the blue door."
By sunrise, Ethan stood in front of it.
A tiny house at the end of a forgotten street.
The paint was peeling. The windows were cracked. But on the front step sat something that made Ethan’s heart stop.
His old teddy bear.
The one buried in Lily’s coffin.
Ethan pushed open the door.
Inside, the crying woman sat on the floor, rocking the baby in her arms.
"You need to listen carefully," she whispered. "Your parents didn’t adopt you to love you. They adopted you to hide you."
Ethan stared at her.
"My name is Clara," she said. "I was a nurse the night you and Lily were taken from the Blackwood family."
The name meant nothing to Ethan.
Until Clara handed him a newspaper clipping.
BILLIONAIRE’S DAUGHTER AND TWO CHILDREN DIE IN TRAGIC FIRE
There was a photo beneath the headline.
A beautiful woman.
A baby girl.
And a little boy with Ethan’s face.
Ethan’s knees weakened.
Clara’s voice broke.
"The fire was staged. Your mother survived long enough to tell me one thing… protect her children."
Before Ethan could speak, a floorboard creaked behind them.
Clara turned pale.
The front door slowly opened.
May you like
And Ethan saw the man from the black SUV standing there.
Smiling.
