CHAPTER 3 â The DNA That Changed Everything
The emergency room was placed under police protection.
No visitors.
No reporters.
No exceptions.
Daniel Carter had survived.
But whoever had tried to bury him alive wasn't finished.
Ethan sat quietly outside his father's hospital room, clutching the old photograph with trembling hands.
He couldn't stop staring at the words on the back.
"Ethan must never know."
Know what?
His grandmother, Margaret, tried to take the photo away.
"Sweetheart... maybe this isn't the time."
Ethan refused.
"It has something to do with me."
Before Margaret could answer, two detectives entered the hallway.
"Mr. Carter is awake."
Daniel looked weaker than ever.
Machines beeped beside his bed while deep bruises covered his neck.
The detective switched on a recorder.
"Mr. Carter... who tried to kill you?"
Daniel didn't hesitate.
"Victor Hale."
"Can you prove it?"
Daniel slowly pointed toward the black memory card lying inside an evidence bag.
"Everything is on that card."
The detective inserted it into a laptop.
A security video appeared.
The room fell silent.
It showed Daniel entering his office three nights before the crash.
Minutes later...
Victor walked in.
They argued violently.
Then Victor handed Daniel a folder.
Daniel opened it.
His face instantly turned white.
The detective paused the video.
"What was inside the folder?"
Daniel closed his eyes.
"A DNA report."
Everyone stared at him.
"A DNA report proving..."
He couldn't finish.
Just then...
The laptop screen suddenly went black.
One line of red text appeared.
FILES DELETED.
The detective frowned.
"What theâ?"
Every file on the memory card disappeared.
Someone had remotely erased the evidence.
Daniel whispered only one name.
"Victor..."
Across town...
Victor entered an abandoned warehouse.
A single light bulb hung from the ceiling.
An older man sat waiting in the shadows.
Gray hair.
Expensive suit.
Cold blue eyes.
Victor looked nervous.
"I destroyed the evidence."
The old man slowly smiled.
"Not all of it."
Victor froze.
"What do you mean?"
The man slid another identical DNA report across the table.
"There was always a second copy."
Victor's face lost all color.
"I thought you burned everything."
The old man laughed quietly.
"I've spent twenty-five years protecting this secret."
Victor looked confused.
"Why?"
The man leaned forward.
"Because if Ethan learns the truth..."
"Our family loses everything."
Victor stared at him in disbelief.
"You mean..."
The old man nodded.
"Yes."
"I am Ethan's biological grandfather."
Victor whispered,
"Then Daniel..."
The old man interrupted him.
"Daniel was never supposed to raise that boy."
Meanwhile...
Back at the hospital...
Ethan couldn't sleep.
He wandered into the hospital chapel.
A nurse noticed him kneeling alone.
"You shouldn't be here by yourself."
Ethan looked up.
"I think everyone is lying to me."
The nurse smiled sadly.
Before she could answer...
A woman wearing sunglasses stepped out of the shadows.
She looked no older than thirty-five.
Elegant.
Beautiful.
But her eyes filled with tears the moment she saw Ethan.
She whispered,
"My God..."
"You look exactly like your mother."
Ethan frowned.
"You knew my mom?"
The woman slowly removed a silver necklace.
Inside was a tiny photo.
It showed the same woman...
Holding a newborn baby.
On the back was a handwritten date.
The day Ethan was born.
The woman looked into the boy's eyes.
Then said the words that stopped his heart.
"I've been searching for you..."
"For eight years."
"Because..."
May you like
"I'm your mother."
To be continued...
