Chapter 9
Julian was arrested on the dock.
Elaine was arrested two hours later after police traced the burner phone hidden in her purse lining.
Victoria canceled the wedding before lunch.
By dinner, every news station in Dallas had the story.
Prominent attorney’s wedding ends in kidnapping arrest.
But headlines made everything smaller than it was.
They did not show Noah shaking in my hotel room.
They did not show Lila sitting beside her adoptive mother, asking if she had been bought.
They did not show Rebecca Hart sobbing.
“No,” Rebecca said. “We were told your birth mother chose us.”
Lila stared at the floor.
“Did she?”
No one answered.
Because the records were lies.
Samuel found Anna Bell’s last known address.
She had died twelve years earlier.
Officially, overdose.
Unofficially, there were missing pages in her file.
A detective who handled the case had retired early and moved to Florida.
Paid in cash.
By a trust controlled by Elaine.
Lila listened without blinking.
Then she walked into the bathroom and locked the door.
Noah sat outside it.
“I know what it feels like,” he said softly. “To find out Dad isn’t who you thought.”
No answer.
He stayed anyway.
An hour later, the door opened.
Lila sat beside him on the floor.
“I don’t know how to be your sister.”
Noah shrugged.
“I don’t know either.”
She gave a broken laugh.
“I’m twenty-three. You’re ten.”
“I’m mature for my age.”
That made her laugh for real.
Small.
But real.
I watched from the bed and covered my mouth.
May you like
Because Julian had destroyed so much.
But somehow, in the wreckage, my son had found his sister.
