Chapter 3

I sat in my car, the heater on full blast, but I felt freezing cold.

My burner phone buzzed.

It was a secure message from the black market lab.

My hands shook so badly I could barely hold the phone.

I opened the attachment and scrolled to the last page.

[Blood testing excludes Elena as the biological mother of Sam.]

That short line was like a poisoned knife, slicing me apart.

The son I had raised for five years, the child I loved to my bones, was not of my blood.

The woman's face from moments ago overlapped with Sam's features in my mind.

The resemblance was striking.

I felt nauseous, almost vomiting.

But I remembered clearly.

The pack healing center had strict security.

I had arranged the best birthing suite.

Why... five years later, was my son someone else's flesh and blood?

And where was the child I had carried?

I took out my phone and called Ryan again.

"Two things."

"First, investigate the relationship between Sophia and Sam."

"Second, find my son at any cost."

Ryan paused for a second on the line, then agreed.

"Understood. I'm on it."

While waiting, I lived my life as usual.

I even acted normal around Ethan.

I just stopped responding to his hugs and no longer entered the bedroom at night.

When Ethan asked, I just said the clinic was busy with projects.

He looked at me with a flicker of hesitation but said nothing more.

A week later, Ryan placed a sealed file on my desk.

"We obtained Sophia's Blood sample through special channels..."

He paused, his voice low.

"We compared it with Sam's sample."

"The test shows they share a biological mother-son relationship."

Even though I expected it, seeing the report made me grip the desk to stay standing.

Five years...

I had poured all my motherly love into a child who carried another woman's blood.

"We also investigated your birth records. The woman giving birth the same day as you was Sophia."

"She was in the VIP suite too, and the emergency contact listed was Ethan."

I looked up sharply.

"What happened to her pup?"

Ryan looked at the file, his tone heavy.

"There seemed to be an accident during delivery. The male infant she bore... supposedly passed away on the third day."

These pieces of information scattered like beads, now strung together by the thread of truth.

"Keep digging!"

"I want every detail on that pup!"

Ryan was efficient.

He soon tracked down an old midwife who had worked at the healing center back then.

The old midwife looked around nervously before whispering.

"That night, two she-wolves went into labor almost at the same time. But that Sophia woman was unlucky."

"She labored for a long time, and the pup still didn't make it!"

She took the money from the envelope Ryan handed her, counting it with a greedy glint in her eyes.

"But that was just the official story..."

"Fooling others is fine, but I was there..."

"That Sophia woman swapped the pups herself! The child never died! Everyone was lying!"

After saying this, the old midwife grabbed the envelope and hurried away.

Ryan and I stood there, frozen.

My voice was hoarse, terrifying.

"Do whatever it takes. Find my son!!"

A few days later, all clues pointed to a remote boarding school in the neighboring province.

The enrollment date and age matched perfectly.

I couldn't wait any longer.

I drove hundreds of miles alone to the address Ryan gave me.

The afternoon sun shone on the playground.

Children were playing in groups.

My eyes scanned every face desperately.