CHAPTER 5 — THE BOY WHO CALLED SOMEONE ELSE "DAD"
For twelve long years...
Ethan had unknowingly lived in the same world as his son.
Just thousands of miles apart.
The boarding school in Switzerland looked more like a royal palace than a school. Hidden behind towering mountains and guarded by private security, it was where the world's wealthiest families sent their children.
Official records identified the boy as Lucas Langford.
According to every legal document, he was the orphaned son of billionaire Victor Langford.
The truth was far darker.
Lucas Carter had been stolen the night he was born.
Using the evidence recovered from the abandoned hospital, Ethan hired an international investigation team. Every clue pointed toward Switzerland.
But before they could leave New York, another tragedy struck.
Olivia vanished.
Her phone was found abandoned inside her car.
The driver's door was open.
Her wedding ring lay on the seat.
There were no signs of struggle.
Only one message written across the windshield in red paint.
"Choose one child."
Ethan felt his knees buckle.
Whoever had taken Olivia knew exactly where to hurt him.
Hours later, a secure video call appeared on Ethan's laptop.
Victor Langford.
Still sitting inside a maximum-security prison.
Still smiling.
"You really thought prison could stop me?"
Ethan slammed his fist against the desk.
"If you touch my family—"
Victor laughed.
"I already did."
The screen switched to a live camera feed.
Olivia was tied to a chair inside an abandoned warehouse.
Terrified...
But alive.
Victor leaned closer to the camera.
"You have forty-eight hours."
"You can rescue your wife..."
"Or find your son."
"But not both."
The screen went black.
Against every instinct, Ethan boarded the first private jet to Switzerland.
Olivia herself would have made the same choice.
She had spent twelve years believing her son was dead.
Now that he was alive...
Nothing mattered more.
Arriving at the academy, Ethan watched from outside the gates as dozens of students walked across the courtyard.
Then...
He saw him.
A tall boy with dark hair.
The same blue eyes Ethan saw every morning in the mirror.
Lucas laughed with his classmates, completely unaware that his real father stood only a few hundred feet away.
Tears filled Ethan's eyes.
He whispered,
"My son..."
Just as Ethan stepped toward the entrance, Lucas suddenly turned.
For a brief second...
Their eyes met.
Something strange happened.
Lucas stopped walking.
His heart began racing for reasons he couldn't explain.
It felt...
Familiar.
Before Ethan could call out his name, a black SUV sped through the school gates.
Armed men jumped out.
One of them grabbed Lucas.
The courtyard erupted into screams.
As the kidnappers forced the terrified boy into the vehicle, Lucas looked directly at Ethan...
And shouted the one word he had never spoken before.
"Dad!"
The SUV roared away, disappearing into the mountain road.
Ethan didn't hesitate.
He jumped into his car and chased after it.
But he had no idea...
This kidnapping wasn't part of Victor's plan.
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Someone even more powerful had entered the game.
And they wanted both Carter children... alive.
