CHAPTER 3 — THE WIFE WHO NEVER LEFT
CHAPTER 3 — THE WIFE WHO NEVER LEFT
Ethan stepped back.
For the first time that night, he looked uncertain.
Olivia grabbed his hand. “This is insane. I’ve never seen him in my life.”
But the man shook his head.
“You’re lying,” he said calmly.
Then he turned to Sophie.
“She knows the truth.”
Sophie broke down instantly.
“I didn’t want it to go this far…”
Olivia turned sharply. “What truth?”
Sophie whispered:
“You weren’t just a witness, Olivia.”
“You were part of the operation.”
Silence.
Ethan felt his stomach drop.
“What operation?” he asked.
The man answered instead.
“A child transfer program.”
Olivia shook her head violently. “No… that’s not real.”
But the man raised his phone again.
Final video.
A hospital room.
Olivia signing papers.
Holding a newborn.
Then handing the baby to someone else.
Her face… emotionless.
Olivia collapsed slightly.
“I don’t remember that…”
The man stepped closer.
“Because your memory was erased.”
Ethan whispered, “Why?”
The man looked at him.
“Because you adopted that child years later.”
Ethan froze.
“No…”
Sophie whispered, “That child is alive.”
“And someone wants him back.”
Olivia grabbed Ethan’s arm. “We don’t have a child!”
The man smiled softly.
“Oh, you do.”
He turned the screen again.
A current photo.
A teenage boy.
Standing outside their family home.
Watching them.
Right now.
Olivia’s breath stopped.
“That’s impossible…”
The man leaned in slightly.
“No,” he said.
“You just never noticed him.”
Then the final message arrived on Ethan’s phone.
Unknown number:
“Now choose: the truth… or your son.”
The lights in the ballroom suddenly went out.
May you like
And in the darkness—
A door somewhere inside the hall slowly opened.
