Chapter 11 - The Baby Who Wasn't MineThe Secret Mom Had Been HidingI refused to believe him.
“No.”
Arthur checked Noah again.
The mark was real.
A tiny seventeen.
Mom finally spoke.
“Ivy.”
I turned.
“What does he mean?”
She looked at Noah.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Your mother.”
She closed her eyes.
“I need to tell you.”
The room fell silent.
“Noah was not born to me.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Owen is.”
My knees weakened.
“The twins aren't twins?”
Mom shook her head.
“No.”
I looked at Noah.
His face.
His tiny fingers.
The matching blankets.
Everything I had believed was suddenly collapsing.
“Where did you get him?”
Mom started crying.
“From Thomas.”
Arthur became still.
“Explain.”
“Thomas came to me the night before Daniel disappeared.”
Mom struggled to breathe.
“He carried a baby.”
“Noah.”
“He said Julian had discovered the inheritance plan.”
“What did Thomas want?”
“To hide the child.”
Arthur stepped forward.
“Why?”
Mom looked at me.
“Because Noah is the biological heir to the Pendleton estate.”
Silence.
I stared at my little brother.
Arthur looked like he'd been punched.
“My father's heir.”
Mom nodded.
“Thomas had a son.”
Arthur whispered:
“Thomas had a son.”
“And Julian wanted him dead.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
Then suddenly everything made sense.
The kidnappers.
The threats.
The mark.
The formula.
The store.
They hadn't been hunting me because of me alone.
They had been hunting Noah.
But why had they called me the heir?
Mom reached into the drawer.
She pulled out a letter.
Thomas's handwriting.
Arthur opened it.
The first line read:
If Julian learns the boy survived, he will burn the city to find him.
Arthur read silently.
Then his expression changed.
“What?”
He looked at me.
“This isn't just an inheritance.”
“What is it?”
“Control.”
“Of what?”
“The Pendleton syndicate.”
My stomach dropped.
Noah was the legal heir to a criminal empire.
Arthur stared at the baby.
“My brother left everything to his son.”
“And Julian wants to kill him.”
“Not just Julian.”
Arthur pointed at the ledger.
“Everyone named in this.”
The corruption network.
Hundreds of people.
They needed Noah dead before he became old enough to inherit.
I hugged him tighter.
“What do we do?”
Arthur looked at the door.
“Disappear.”
Mom shook her head.
“No.”
Arthur looked at her.
“It's over, Elena.”
“Not yet.”
She reached beneath her pillow.
She pulled out a photograph.
Arthur stared at it.
It was Thomas.
Alive.
Standing beside a lake.
The picture was dated three weeks earlier.
Arthur nearly dropped it.
“How?”
“He sent it.”
“Where is he?”
Mom whispered:
“He's in Chicago.”
Arthur's phone rang.
He answered.
A distorted voice said:
“You found out about the baby.”
Arthur froze.
“You have five minutes.”
The voice continued:
“Bring Noah to the old courthouse.”
“Why?”
“Because Thomas wants his son.”
Arthur stared at me.
Then the caller said:
“And Ivy is not invited.”
The line went dead.
I expected Arthur to order everyone into the cars.
Instead, he said something that frightened me more than the threat.
“We're not going.”
“Why?”
May you like
He looked at me.
“Because Thomas is the one making the calls.”
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