Chapter 3 - THE CHILD WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
No one spoke.
The words remained in the air.
Your father took the baby.
Dominic stared at Evelyn.
She was shaking.
“Is it true?”
“I don't know.”
His eyes became hard.
“You said the baby died.”
“I was told the baby died.”
“By whom?”
“The doctor.”
“What doctor?”
Evelyn looked away.
Dominic's voice became dangerous.
“What doctor?”
“Dr. Samuel Crane.”
Dominic knew the name.
His father had used him for years.
A private physician.
A man who had treated members of the Vale family.
A man who had disappeared after Victor Vale's death.
Dominic's stomach turned.
“What did he tell you?”
“That the baby was stillborn.”
“And you believed him?”
“I was unconscious.”
Evelyn's voice cracked.
“I had been in labor for eighteen hours. I had lost blood. I woke up in a hospital room and there were only two babies beside me.”
Dominic looked at the boys.
“What happened to the third?”
“I asked.”
“And?”
“The doctor told me there had been complications.”
Dominic's hands closed into fists.
“Did you see the body?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
“Did you see a death certificate?”
“No.”
“Did you see anything?”
“No.”
Dominic stared at her.
Then he turned toward Marcus.
“Find Dr. Crane.”
Marcus was already reaching for his phone.
“We'll start immediately.”
“No.”
Dominic's voice stopped him.
“Don't start.”
Marcus looked at him.
“Sir?”
“Find him.”
Marcus understood.
He nodded.
“Alive or dead?”
Dominic's expression was cold.
“Alive.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“You think my baby is alive?”
“I think my father lied.”
“Why would he take a baby?”
“I don't know.”
“Dominic—”
“I said I don't know.”
He looked toward the door.
“But I'm going to find out.”
The safe room door shook again.
Caleb shouted.
“Dominic! Your father knew the child had something special!”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
Caleb laughed.
“You really don't know anything, do you?”
Marcus looked toward him.
“Don't listen to him.”
But Dominic had already moved closer to the door.
“What did my father want?”
“Your family has a bloodline.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“What?”
“Your father believed the third child would inherit something that belonged to him.”
Dominic almost laughed.
“My father was insane.”
“Maybe.”
Caleb's voice lowered.
“But he was right about one thing.”
“What?”
“The child is alive.”
Evelyn suddenly cried out.
“No.”
Dominic turned toward her.
“What?”
She was staring at the door.
“No. He can't know that.”
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“What are you talking about?”
Evelyn took a step backward.
“I saw him.”
“Who?”
“The baby.”
Dominic stared at her.
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
His expression changed.
“You saw the baby?”
Evelyn nodded.
“I was leaving the hospital.”
“Where?”
“Outside.”
“Who was holding the baby?”
She closed her eyes.
“Your father.”
Dominic felt the air leave his lungs.
“What?”
“He was standing near the parking lot.”
“Why didn't you stop him?”
“I didn't know.”
“You said you saw him.”
“I saw a baby.”
Her voice broke.
“I didn't know it was mine.”
Dominic stared at her.
“What happened?”
“I was in a wheelchair.”
He froze.
Evelyn looked at him.
“I had lost too much blood. I could barely walk.”
She continued.
“I saw your father carrying a newborn. I asked him who the baby was.”
“And?”
“He told me it was his grandson.”
Dominic's face changed.
“He said the baby had died.”
“I know.”
“Why didn't you realize?”
“Because I had just given birth to twins.”
She looked toward Eli and Noah.
“I thought I was seeing someone else's child.”
Dominic looked down.
His entire life had become a series of lies built on coincidences.
His father had taken a baby.
Evelyn had seen it.
And neither of them had known.
“What happened next?”
“Your father saw me.”
Dominic went still.
“He saw you?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He told me if I ever came back, you would die.”
Dominic's eyes darkened.
“Then he arranged for me to believe you were dead.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Someone came to my room that night.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“What did they say?”
“That you had died in the accident.”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“I didn't die.”
“I know that now.”
“Why didn't you check?”
Evelyn stared at him.
“I tried.”
“Try harder.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I went to the hospital where you were taken.”
Dominic stopped.
“What?”
“I went there.”
“When?”
“The next morning.”
“Why didn't I see you?”
“Because your family had moved you.”
Dominic said nothing.
Evelyn looked at him.
“I was told you had died.”
“Who told you?”
“A nurse.”
“What nurse?”
“I don't know.”
Dominic turned to Marcus.
“Find every person working at that hospital.”
Marcus nodded.
“Sir, that was three years ago.”
“I don't care.”
The door shook again.
Caleb shouted.
“Dominic! You have ten minutes before the west security gate falls!”
Marcus looked at him.
“We need to move.”
Dominic looked at Evelyn.
“Can you walk?”
“Yes.”
“Take the boys.”
“What about you?”
“I'll follow.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“You can't move fast enough.”
Dominic looked at her.
“You'd be surprised.”
Marcus opened a second exit.
They moved through another corridor.
The boys held Evelyn's hands.
Dominic followed behind them.
The mansion had become a battlefield.
Alarms screamed.
Gunfire echoed.
Smoke drifted through the hallways.
Dominic hated the helplessness.
Before the accident, he had been the fastest man in any room.
Now, every movement required calculation.
His chair was fast.
But not fast enough.
He reached the underground garage.
Marcus opened the armored SUV.
Evelyn climbed in with the boys.
Dominic maneuvered his chair toward the vehicle.
Then a bullet struck the concrete beside him.
He turned.
A gunman stood at the end of the garage.
Dominic reached for his weapon.
The man fired.
Dominic raised his arm.
The bullet struck the wheelchair's metal frame.
Marcus fired.
The gunman fell.
Dominic stared at the bullet hole.
Then at his chair.
Evelyn screamed.
“Dominic!”
“I'm fine.”
He continued toward the SUV.
But the moment he reached the door, his chair stopped.
The motor had been damaged.
Marcus ran toward him.
“Sir!”
“Get them out.”
“I'm not leaving you.”
Dominic looked at Evelyn.
She was staring at him.
The old fear was back in her eyes.
The fear she had felt when he first woke up paralyzed.
The fear that she might lose him again.
Dominic looked away.
“Go.”
Evelyn stepped out of the SUV.
“No.”
He stared at her.
“You don't get to make that decision.”
“I already made it three years ago.”
“Evelyn.”
“I left once.”
She stood in front of him.
“I am not leaving again.”
For one second, Dominic couldn't speak.
Then he heard footsteps.
More men.
Coming from the corridor.
Marcus lifted his gun.
“Sir.”
Dominic looked at Evelyn.
“Get in the car.”
“What about you?”
“I'll hold them.”
“You're in a wheelchair.”
His eyes became cold.
“And you're still standing here.”
She stared at him.
Then she understood.
Dominic was angry.
But beneath the anger was fear.
He was afraid she would leave.
Again.
Evelyn grabbed the back of his wheelchair.
“I'll push you.”
Dominic looked at her.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“Evelyn—”
“Move.”
She pushed.
The wheelchair rolled toward the SUV.
Dominic stared at her hands.
Those hands had once held his face.
Now they were pushing him through a garage while armed men hunted them.
The irony almost made him laugh.
They reached the vehicle.
Marcus fired down the corridor.
Evelyn climbed in.
Dominic followed.
The armored SUV crashed through the garage gate.
They escaped into the night.
For several minutes, no one spoke.
The boys were asleep in the back.
Evelyn sat beside them.
Dominic sat in the front.
His damaged wheelchair had been folded into the rear compartment.
He hated being in the passenger seat.
He hated needing help.
He hated that his body had become a reminder of the accident.
Evelyn looked at him.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“You're bleeding.”
Dominic glanced down.
A thin line of blood ran from his shoulder.
“It's nothing.”
She reached toward him.
He caught her wrist.
The movement was automatic.
They froze.
Her skin was warm.
His hand was around her wrist.
Three years disappeared.
Then Dominic released her.
“Don't.”
Evelyn lowered her hand.
“I'm sorry.”
“For what?”
“For all of it.”
He looked out the window.
“You should be.”
The car drove through the city.
Behind them, the Vale mansion burned.
Dominic watched the flames in the rearview mirror.
His father's house.
His childhood.
His empire.
Everything was disappearing.
Evelyn whispered.
“What do we do now?”
Dominic's eyes remained on the road.
“We find Dr. Crane.”
“And if he confirms the baby is alive?”
“Then we find him.”
“And if your father took him?”
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“Then I bring him home.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Even if he doesn't know you?”
Dominic turned.
“He will.”
“How?”
Dominic looked toward the sleeping boys.
“Because I'm his father.”
The car suddenly swerved.
Marcus shouted.
A truck had pulled into the road.
Dominic grabbed the dashboard.
The SUV crashed into the side of the truck.
Metal screamed.
Glass shattered.
Evelyn screamed.
The boys woke crying.
The vehicle spun.
Then stopped.
For a moment, there was only smoke.
Dominic opened his eyes.
His body was trapped.
Evelyn was beside him.
Blood ran down her forehead.
The boys were crying in the back.
Dominic tried to move.
Pain shot through his body.
He couldn't reach them.
“Evelyn!”
She opened her eyes.
“Dominic?”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“The boys?”
She turned.
“Eli! Noah!”
The boys were alive.
Shaken.
Crying.
But alive.
Dominic closed his eyes for one second.
Then a voice came from outside.
“Get out of the car.”
Dominic opened his eyes.
A man stood beside the broken vehicle.
He was holding a gun.
Behind him stood three others.
The man smiled.
“You should have stayed in your mansion, Dominic.”
Dominic stared at him.
“Who sent you?”
The man looked toward Evelyn.
Then the boys.
“Your father's last order.”
Dominic's face went cold.
“My father is dead.”
The man smiled.
“So is the baby.”
Evelyn froze.
Dominic looked at her.
The man continued.
“Or at least, that's what you were supposed to believe.”
He raised his weapon.
May you like
Then said:
“Your third son has been alive for three years.”
