Chapter 5 - The Intern in the OfficeThe rain was still hammering against the glass of the Mercer Design Group penthouse office downtown, but inside, the air felt suffocatingly hot.
It was 2:15 a.m.
The rest of the building was pitch black, save for the corner drafting desk where a single desk lamp glowed.
Lucas sat hunched over a laptop, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he finalized the structural blueprints for a new municipal library project. He had dark, unruly hair, intense blue eyes that mirrored Daniel’s own, and a small, distinct birthmark shaped like a crescent moon peeking out from behind his left ear.
The elevator bell chimed softly down the hall.
Lucas didn't look up immediately, assuming it was just the night cleaning crew.
Footsteps echoed softly against the polished concrete floor. Heavy, uneven footsteps.
"Late night, Lucas," a voice spoke from the doorway.
Lucas jumped, spinning around in his ergonomic chair. Standing in the entrance of his cubicle were Daniel and Valerie.
Daniel looked shell-shocked, his coat soaked through with rain, his eyes bloodshot and wide. Beside him, Valerie was trembling so violently she had to hold onto Daniel’s arm for support.
"Mr. Mercer? Mrs... I mean, Ms. Bennett?" Lucas blinked, standing up quickly from his desk with a confused, polite smile. "Is everything okay? What are you guys doing here at this hour? Your father..."
"Lucas," Daniel interrupted, his voice cracking. He took a slow, agonizing step toward the desk. Every detail of the young man’s face—features he had looked at every single day for the past three years without ever connecting the dots—now hit him like a physical avalanche.
"Mr. Mercer, you're scaring me," Lucas said, taking a step back. "Did something happen at the hospital?"
Valerie couldn't hold it back anymore. She broke away from Daniel, rushed across the room, and dropped to her knees in front of Lucas’s chair. She reached out with shaking fingers, gently brushing the hair away from the left side of his neck.
Her thumb grazed the crescent moon birthmark.
Valerie let out a broken, agonizing cry that pierced the quiet of the office.
"Oh, my God," she sobbed, pressing her forehead against Lucas’s knee. "My baby. My sweet, beautiful baby."
Lucas stared down at her, completely paralyzed. He looked at Daniel, panic flashing in his blue eyes. "Mr. Mercer, please... what is going on? Why is she crying? Who am I?"
Daniel stepped forward, knelt beside Valerie, and placed a heavy, trembling hand on his son’s shoulder.
"Lucas," Daniel said, his voice thick with unshed tears. "For twenty years, we were told you died the night you were born. But you didn't die. You were stolen."
Lucas stood up abruptly, knocking his chair over backward. "Stolen? What kind of sick joke is this? My parents... I grew up with the Millers in Evanston! They raised me! They paid for my college!"
"The Millers didn't adopt you legally, Lucas," a cold, sharp voice cut through the darkness of the office.
Everyone spun around.
May you like
Standing by the elevators, leaning against the glass wall with a glass of scotch in her hand, was Sophia.
Her face was an icy mask of calculated survival.
