CHAPTER 4 â The Woman Who Lied for Eight Years
The hospital chapel fell silent.
Ethan stared at the woman standing before him.
She looked terrified...
Not of him.
But of what she was about to reveal.
"I'm your mother," she whispered again.
The little boy instinctively stepped backward.
"No..."
"My mom died when I was a baby."
The woman's eyes filled with tears.
"That's what they wanted you to believe."
Before Ethan could answer, footsteps echoed through the hallway.
Daniel.
Still weak from nearly being buried alive, he stood at the chapel entrance with one hand gripping the wall.
The moment he saw the woman...
His face turned white.
"You..."
The woman slowly nodded.
"It's been a long time, Daniel."
Margaret rushed in behind him and nearly collapsed.
"Claire?"
She crossed herself.
"This... this can't be possible."
Claire gave a heartbreaking smile.
"It wasn't supposed to be."
Eight years earlier...
The Carter family had celebrated Ethan's birth.
Daniel believed he had the perfect life.
A beautiful wife.
A healthy baby.
A successful business.
But everything changed one rainy night.
Claire disappeared.
The police found her abandoned car near a river.
Inside...
Only blood.
No body.
After months of searching, the court declared her legally dead.
Daniel mourned her.
Ethan grew up believing his mother had died before he could remember her face.
But that had all been a lie.
Back in the chapel...
Daniel's voice trembled.
"Where have you been?"
Claire lowered her eyes.
"Hiding."
"From who?"
She looked directly at him.
"Your father."
The words hit Daniel like a punch.
"My father?"
Claire nodded.
"He threatened to kill Ethan if I ever came back."
Margaret gasped.
"No..."
Claire slowly reached into her purse and placed a worn envelope on the chapel bench.
"I've carried this for eight years."
Daniel opened it.
Inside were dozens of photographs.
Hidden-camera photos.
Every birthday.
Every Christmas.
Every first day of school.
Claire had secretly watched Ethan grow up...
Without ever speaking to him.
Ethan picked up one picture.
He was five years old, blowing out birthday candles.
Someone had taken the photo from across the street.
Another showed him learning to ride a bicycle.
Another...
Crying at Daniel's funeral only hours earlier.
Claire had been there.
Watching.
The entire time.
Suddenly...
Daniel's phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
No one spoke.
Only slow breathing.
Then a distorted voice.
"You should've stayed dead."
The call ended.
Seconds later...
Every television inside the hospital switched on by itself.
Breaking News flashed across the screen.
MISSING BUSINESSMAN VICTOR HALE FOUND DEAD.
A photo appeared.
Victor's body had been discovered floating in the river.
The same river where Claire had supposedly died eight years earlier.
Detectives believed it was suicide.
Daniel didn't.
Neither did Claire.
Because both of them noticed something the reporters hadn't.
Around Victor's neck...
Was the exact same silver chain Claire had worn on the night she disappeared.
Claire touched her own neck in horror.
"My necklace..."
"It was stolen eight years ago."
Daniel suddenly understood.
Victor hadn't been the mastermind.
He had only been a pawn.
Someone else...
Someone far more powerful...
Had just silenced him forever.
At that exact moment...
Margaret quietly unfolded the second DNA report that had mysteriously appeared in Daniel's hospital room.
She expected to see one shocking result.
Instead...
She found two.
The first line read:
Daniel Carter â NOT the biological father of Ethan Carter.
Her hands began to shake.
Then she read the second line.
Her scream echoed through the entire hospital.
Because beneath Daniel's name...
The report identified Ethan's biological father.
It wasn't Victor.
It wasn't anyone in the Carter family.
It was a man officially declared dead...
May you like
Twenty years ago.
To be continued...
