"Send the file," I commanded.
"Incoming," Olivia replied over the line. "Give me ten minutes to bypass the final firewall."
I ended the call. I tossed the phone onto the passenger seat and shifted the sedan into drive. The engine roared, carrying me away from the manicured lawns of my neighborhood.
I navigated the winding suburban roads toward the city's edge. Twelve years ago, I tracked down a retired hospital administrator. A thick envelope of cash bought me an old shift roster and a rusted tin box containing a single, faded baby wristband.
That wristband led me to a rundown foster home in the next county.
It led me to a four-year-old boy with my exact eye color.
I pulled into the gravel driveway of a secluded, single-story house. The porch light flickered, casting long shadows across the wooden steps. No one in Damien's circle knew this property existed. They definitely didn't know about the boy living inside it.
I killed the engine. Before I even reached the porch, the front door swung open.
Caleb stood in the threshold. He wore a gray hoodie, the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. At sixteen, he was already taller than me, his frame lean and sharp.
"You're late," he said, leaning against the doorframe.
"Traffic on the interstate," I replied, stepping past him.
He shut the door and slid the deadbolt into place. "Or you just couldn't get away from the circus."
"A bit of both."
He handed me a steaming ceramic mug. Earl Grey, two sugars. Exactly how I took it.
"I figured you'd need this," Caleb muttered, walking back toward the living room. "You get that tight look around your mouth when you've been dealing with him."
"It's just a dinner," I said, following him.
"Right. Sweet sixteen." Caleb scoffed, dropping into a wooden chair at the dining table. "Did the golden boy get another sports car he can't drive?"
"No. Just a designer jacket." I took a sip of the tea. The warmth spread through my chest. "And he made a wish."
Caleb raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess. He wished you would stop breathing down his neck?"
"He wished Wendy could be his mother."
Caleb stopped moving. His hand hovered over his notebook. He looked up at me, his dark eyes narrowing. "He said that? In front of everyone?"
"Loud and clear."
"And Damien?"
"Damien laughed," I said. "He told the room I was high-strung and living off an allowance."
Caleb's jaw clenched. The pencil in his hand snapped in half. The sharp crack echoed in the quiet kitchen. He threw the broken pieces onto the table.
"Let me burn his cars," Caleb said, his voice dropping into a dangerous register. "I know where he parks the Porsche. I can strip it to the frame before midnight."
"No," I said, keeping my tone perfectly even. "We stick to the plan."
"The plan is taking too long." Caleb grabbed a fresh pen from the cup on the table. "He humiliates you every chance he gets. You own fifty-one percent of the holding company now. Why are we still hiding?"
"Because financial ruin isn't enough for a man like Damien," I told him, stepping closer. "He needs to lose his reputation. He needs to lose his legacy. And he needs to realize that the son he threw away is the one holding the match."
I stepped up behind him and rested my hand on top of his head. His dark hair was thick and unruly. He didn't flinch away. He didn't lean into a stranger's touch. He just kept writing, perfectly comfortable with my presence.
My real son.
Caleb Ashford.
I had bought this house the day I found him, moving him out of the foster system and into a quiet, protected life. I hired a live-in caretaker, the best private tutors, and visited three times a week. Damien thought I spent my evenings at charity board meetings. He had no idea his entire empire was about to be dismantled by the woman he thought he owned.
My phone vibrated against the wood table.
The screen lit up. A call from Olivia.
I picked up the device and swiped right. "Did you get it?"
"Check your messages," Olivia said, her voice tight. "I sent the image. But Viv... you need to brace yourself."
Caleb kept his focus on his math problem, oblivious to the sudden spike in my pulse. I put the phone on speaker, keeping the volume low, and opened the message thread.
The PDF expanded, displaying a scanned copy of a seventeen-year-old medical intake form.
My eyes scanned the faded black text.
Patient Name: Wendy Miller.
I stopped breathing. My thumb hovered over the screen.
"Olivia," I whispered. "This isn't my form."
"I know," she replied through the speaker. "Look at the bottom."
I scrolled down.
Companion Signature: Damien Ashford.
The ink looped in his unmistakable, arrogant scrawl.
"He wasn't in London," I said, the words tasting like ash. "He was at the exact same clinic."
"Signing paperwork for Wendy," Olivia finished. "They were pregnant at the same time, Viv. Do you understand what this means?"
"Wendy is the mother," I stated. The puzzle pieces violently snapped together. "Wendy is Leo's real mother."
"Damien orchestrated the whole thing," Olivia said, her tone turning vicious. "He swapped his mistress's kid with your legitimate heir. He let you raise his bastard."
Tonight, at the dinner table, Wendy wiping frosting off Leo's chin wasn't just a friendly gesture. It was a mother touching her son.
"Mom?" Caleb asked.
He dropped his pen. He twisted in his chair, his dark eyes locking onto my face. "What's wrong? You look pale."
I tapped the screen, cutting the call with Olivia. I placed the phone face down on top of his calculus book.
"Nothing is wrong," I said. My voice came out perfectly steady. I smoothed my hand over his shoulder. "Just a minor issue at work."
"You sure?" He frowned, searching my expression.
"I'm sure." I picked up my tea. "I'm staying here tonight."
Caleb's frown vanished. A small, genuine smile broke across his face. "Okay. I'll tell Mrs. Higgins to make up the guest room."
He pushed his chair back and headed toward the kitchen.
I watched him leave. The moment the swinging door shut behind him, I snatched my phone off the table.
I opened my encrypted messaging app and scrolled down to a blocked contact.
Sutton.
I hit the forward button on Olivia's photo. The image of Damien's signature and Wendy's name loaded into the chat box.
I tapped the keyboard.
Initiate it.
I pressed send.
