Chapter 20 — The Child I Chose

I read the sentence again.

Then again.

It didn't change.

The baby they were searching for wasn't you. You were the child I chose to save.

My fingers went numb.

“What does that mean?”

No one answered.

I looked at Daniel first.

He couldn't meet my eyes.

Then I looked at Adrian.

He was staring at the letter as if it had just changed everything he thought he knew about me.

“Dad,” I whispered. “What was she talking about?”

Daniel finally sighed.

“Your mother wanted to tell you herself.”

“She can't. She's missing.”

“I know.”

“So tell me.”

He sat down heavily on the old chair.

“Your mother wasn't supposed to have you.”

I felt my chest tighten.

“What?”

“She was protecting another child.”

Adrian straightened.

“Who?”

Daniel looked at him.

“We don't know.”

“You expect us to believe that?”

“I've spent twenty-four years trying to understand it myself.”

I looked back at the letter.

“Then why did she choose me?”

Daniel hesitated.

“Because the people looking for that child were willing to kill anyone who stood in their way.”

My stomach twisted.

“And my mother took me instead?”

“She made them believe the child they wanted was gone.”

Adrian stepped closer.

“Where was the other baby?”

Daniel shook his head.

“That is the part I never learned.”

I stared at him.

“You knew all this and never told me?”

“I was trying to give you a normal life.”

“Normal?”

My voice broke.

“My father disappeared. My mother hid the truth about me. And now someone is hunting us. That's not normal.”

Daniel lowered his head.

“I know.”

The anger inside me suddenly became too heavy.

I turned away.

Adrian followed me toward the window.

“You okay?”

“No.”

He didn't try to tell me I would be.

I appreciated that.

“I don't even know who I am anymore.”

“You're still Lena.”

I looked at him.

“You don't know that.”

“Yes, I do.”

“How?”

“Because none of this changes the woman I've gotten to know.”

His words caught me off guard.

I looked down at my hands.

“I used to think you hated me.”

“I did.”

I gave him a bitter smile.

“At least you're honest.”

“I was wrong.”

“You've said that.”

“I'll keep saying it until you believe me.”

Despite everything, a small laugh escaped me.

Adrian smiled.

Then his expression turned serious.

“I need to tell you something else.”

“What?”

“The night my mother died…”

He paused.

“I wasn't the only person who heard my parents arguing.”

I frowned.

“Who else was there?”

“My father had a visitor.”

“Who?”

“I never saw his face.”

Adrian pulled out his phone and showed me an old photograph.

A man stood near a black car outside the mansion.

The image was blurry.

But there was something familiar about him.

The way he stood.

The shape of his shoulders.

I looked closer.

“Wait.”

“What?”

“I've seen him.”

“Where?”

I pointed at the photograph.

“At the hospital.”

Adrian's eyes narrowed.

“The man who was outside your mother's room?”

I nodded.

Daniel immediately stood.

“That's impossible.”

“Why?”

“Because that man died twenty years ago.”

Silence filled the cabin.

Adrian stared at Daniel.

“Who was he?”

Daniel swallowed.

“Richard Blackwood.”

Adrian went completely still.

“My uncle?”

Daniel nodded.

“I thought he died in a car accident.”

“He did.”

“Then how was he at the hospital?”

Nobody had an answer.

My phone suddenly vibrated.

I nearly dropped it.

The screen lit up.

One message.

STOP LOOKING FOR THE BABY.

Then another appeared.

YOU ALREADY FOUND HER.

My heart stopped.

I looked at Adrian.

He read the message over my shoulder.

Another message arrived.

SHE'S BEEN BESIDE YOU THIS WHOLE TIME.

Adrian's face went pale.

I stared at him.

“What does that mean?”

He didn't answer.

His eyes slowly moved from my phone to me.

Then to the photograph.

And suddenly, he whispered,

“Lena… I think they aren't looking for a missing child.”

He took a breath.

“I think they're looking for you.”