Chapter 2 - The Maple Street ApartmentForty minutes later, a convoy of three black sedans rolled silently onto Maple Street, pulling up in front of a modest, peeling-paint apartment building that looked entirely out of place in the orbit of Hale House.
Vincent was out of the car before it had even fully stopped.
He didn't wait for his guards. He didn't wait for Daniel. He took the wooden stairs two at a time, his heart hammering against his ribs with a manic, overwhelming rhythm.
Rachel hurried up behind him, her keys rattling frantically in her hand. She unlocked the front door of apartment 4B and pushed it open.
“Noah?” she called out softly into the dim, warm living room. “Honey, it’s Mom. And... we have guests.”
From the small kitchen doorway, a ten-year-old boy stepped out.
He had brown hair. Gray-green eyes. A crooked, cautious smile.
And right beside his left temple, catching the evening light through the window, was a faint, crescent-shaped scar.
Vincent Hale stopped dead in his tracks.
The air rushed out of his lungs. He felt as though he were standing on the edge of a cliff, staring down at a miracle he had spent half a decade mourning.
The boy looked from Rachel to the tall, impeccably dressed stranger standing in his hallway.
“Mom?” Noah asked, his brow furrowing. “Who is this?”
Vincent couldn't speak. His throat was entirely closed up. He took one slow, trembling step forward, his eyes locking onto the boy’s left wrist, where a worn silver band peeked out from beneath his sleeve.
He dropped to his knees, ignoring the scuffed linoleum floor, bringing himself eye-level with his son.
“Noah,” Vincent whispered, his voice cracking violently.
The boy stepped back instinctively, looking at Rachel for safety. “How do you know my name?”
Vincent reached out with shaking fingers, his hand hovering inches away before gently, reverently touching the side of the boy’s face, right over the faint scar.
“Because,” Vincent choked out, a single tear finally breaking free and tracking down his cheek, “I gave you that scar when you fell off the rocking horse in our old living room. And because... I’m your dad.”
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Noah’s eyes widened. He looked back at Rachel, searching her face for confirmation.
Rachel nodded slowly, tears streaming down her own face as she gripped Lily’s hand tightly. “It’s true, buddy. He’s been looking for you for a very, very long time.”
