CHAPTER 5 — The Child They Tried to Erase
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
2:41 p.m.
Doctors sprinted beside my stretcher.
"Natalie, stay awake!"
"Blood pressure falling!"
"Prepare OR Three!"
Bright lights blurred above me.
Everything faded in and out.
The last thing I remembered before anesthesia was Emma squeezing my hand.
"You promised Ethan you'd fight."
Then...
Darkness.
...
I woke to silence.
No machines.
No shouting.
Only soft rain tapping against the hospital window.
My throat burned.
I could barely speak.
"Emma..."
She immediately leaned over me.
Her eyes were swollen from crying.
"You scared me."
I looked down instinctively.
My stomach.
Still swollen.
But empty.
My heart shattered.
"No..."
Emma grabbed my face.
"No."
"Listen to me."
"You have to hear everything."
I stopped breathing.
She smiled through tears.
"They saved him."
For several seconds...
My mind couldn't understand the words.
"They..."
Emma laughed while crying.
"They saved Ethan."
A nurse quietly entered carrying the tiniest baby I had ever seen.
Covered in tubes.
Wrapped inside a warm blanket.
Only four pounds.
Weeks too early.
His tiny fingers barely moved.
But when the nurse laid him against my chest...
His entire hand wrapped around one of my fingers.
Instinctively.
Like he already knew me.
I broke completely.
Months of fear...
Pain...
Betrayal...
Everything exploded into tears.
"I'm here."
I whispered.
"I'm here, baby."
The nurse smiled softly.
"He's stronger than anyone expected."
Then her expression became serious.
"Mrs. Callahan..."
"We need to tell you something."
A police officer stepped into the room.
"So does the FBI."
The lead investigator entered carrying a thick folder.
He looked exhausted.
"We've arrested thirty-seven people."
He placed photographs across the bed.
Richard.
Victoria.
Tyler.
Corporate executives.
Politicians.
Foreign bankers.
But one photograph was missing.
"Where's Chloe?"
I asked.
The room became quiet.
The agent slowly opened another file.
"She disappeared."
My heartbeat quickened.
"She left the mansion three minutes before we arrived."
Emma frowned.
"How?"
"No one left."
The agent nodded.
"Exactly."
"Someone warned her."
Silence filled the room.
Someone inside the FBI operation...
Or someone close to me...
Had leaked the raid.
May you like
The nightmare wasn't over.
It had only changed shape.
