Chapter 3 - One of Them Was MissingI didn't sleep.
None of us did.
By sunrise, the apartment felt less like a home and more like a crime scene.
The boys sat around the kitchen table eating pancakes while Mara watched the windows.
I watched the boys.
They looked ordinary.
That was the terrifying part.
Milo poured syrup.
Mason complained about the cold.
Max refused to eat the strawberries.
Micah kept staring at me.
Finally, he asked, "Do you really have our eyes?"
I smiled despite myself.
"Looks like it."
He leaned forward.
"Mom says Daddy was brave."
I looked at Mara.
She was staring at the floor.
"What else did she say?"
Micah shrugged.
"That you loved us before you knew us."
My chest tightened.
Mara walked out of the kitchen.
I followed.
"You loved me enough to remember my nervous habit."
She looked at me.
"I remember everything about you."
"Then why did you leave?"
"Because I was ordered to."
"By my mother?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Her lips trembled.
"Because the babies weren't supposed to survive."
I stared at her.
"What?"
She closed her eyes.
"You have to understand. I wasn't supposed to have four children."
"You were pregnant."
"With one."
That sentence changed everything.
"What are you saying?"
Mara took a breath.
"I went into labor six years ago expecting one baby."
My heart stopped.
"The first doctor said there was one heartbeat."
She looked toward the boys.
"Then two."
"Then three."
"Then four."
I couldn't speak.
"Four babies," she whispered. "Four boys."
I looked through the doorway.
Milo was laughing.
Mason was stealing blueberries.
Max was arguing with Micah.
Four.
"What happened?"
"The doctor panicked."
"Why?"
"Because someone had ordered a procedure before they were born."
I stared at her.
"What procedure?"
"One that would make sure the babies couldn't be connected to your family."
I felt sick.
"What does that mean?"
"It means your family had already planned what would happen if you and I had children."
I stepped closer.
"Why?"
"Because you were supposed to marry Brielle."
The room went silent.
My engagement.
The business alliance.
Six years ago, I'd been twenty-six.
Mara and I had been together for months.
I had planned to take her home.
My mother told me Mara had cheated on me.
I believed her.
Then Mara disappeared.
And six weeks later, my mother announced the Cartwright arrangement.
I'd never questioned it.
Because I'd spent years convincing myself that Mara had chosen to leave.
Now I knew better.
"What happened in the hospital?"
Mara looked toward the children.
"There were people waiting."
"Who?"
"Your grandfather's physician."
I froze.
"Dr. Everett?"
"Yes."
He was still the Whitaker family's private physician.
Trusted for twenty years.
"You knew him?"
"He delivered the babies."
"What did he do?"
Mara's voice dropped.
"He tried to take one."
I stared at her.
"Which one?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know?"
"Because by the time I realized what was happening, the nurses had separated us."
She began shaking.
"I remember screaming."
"What happened next?"
"I ran."
"With all four?"
"With three."
My stomach dropped.
"Three?"
Mara nodded.
"I escaped with Milo, Mason, and Max."
"Where was Micah?"
She looked toward the kitchen.
"That is the question I've been trying to answer for six years."
I turned.
Micah was sitting alone.
Watching us.
He looked nervous.
I walked to him.
"Micah."
He looked up.
"Do you remember the hospital?"
He shook his head.
"Do you remember anything before Mom?"
Another shake.
I knelt.
"Do you remember this?"
I touched the scar beneath my collarbone.
Micah's eyes widened.
Slowly, he reached beneath his shirt.
He had the exact same scar.
Same location.
Same shape.
My throat closed.
"Who did that to you?"
Micah whispered.
"A doctor."
"What doctor?"
He looked at the hallway.
"The one who says he's Daddy's doctor."
Dr. Everett.
I stood.
At that exact moment, my phone buzzed.
A text from my father.
Come home immediately.
Another message appeared.
Bring Mara. Not the children.
Then a third.
Do not trust Micah.
I read it twice.
Mara grabbed my wrist.
"What did he say?"
I showed her.
She went pale.
"Don't tell the boys."
"Why?"
"Because your father knows something."
Then we heard a crash.
We ran into the kitchen.
A window was shattered.
Mason was crying.
Milo was holding Max.
And Micah was gone.
My heart stopped.
The apartment door was locked.
The elevator cameras showed nobody.
But on the kitchen table lay a black envelope.
Inside was a note.
ONE DOWN. THREE TO GO.
And beneath it was Micah's school photograph.
May you like
Someone had circled his face.
In red ink.
