جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 120

Kieran POVI found Jason exactly where I expected him to be.Outside the clinic.His black SUV was parked across the street, and he stood beside it with his phone pressed against his ear.He looked completely relaxed.Too relaxed.My blood boiled.He had walked into Aurora’s clinic, lied his way into her life again, and left as though he had every right to be there.I pushed through the clinic doors.“Jason!”He turned.The moment his eyes landed on me, a slow smile spread across his face.“Well.”He lowered his phone.“Kieran Blackwell.”I walked toward him.“What did you say to Aurora?”Jason raised an eyebrow.“I don’t think that’s any of your business.”I stopped a few feet away.“It became my business when you started showing up at her workplace.”He chuckled.“Still protective of her, aren’t you?”My jaw tightened.“Answer me.”Jason studied me for a moment.Then he laughed.“You really haven’t changed.”“And you have?”His smile disappeared briefly.“You don’t know anything abou

Melissa POVThe envelope sat on the passenger seat beside me.For several minutes, I simply stared at it.I had imagined this moment countless times.I had imagined discovering something about Aurora.Something about her disappearance.Something about the life she had built in Manhattan.But I hadn’t imagined holding a confidential DNA report involving Kieran Blackwell in my hands.I reached for the envelope.My fingers trembled.The laboratory employee had taken a huge risk giving it to me.I had taken an even bigger risk paying her.But there was no turning back now.I looked around the parked car.The street was quiet.No one was watching.At least, I hoped no one was.I slowly tore open the sealed envelope.My heart hammered against my ribs.I pulled out the first page.For a moment, the words blurred before my eyes.I blinked.Then I started reading. DNA PATERNITY ANALYSISMy breath caught.I read the identification codes.One belonged to Kieran Blackwell.The other belonged to

Aurora POVSomething was wrong I had felt it from the moment I woke up.It was the kind of feeling that settled beneath your skin and refused to leave. I couldn’t explain it, couldn’t point to anything specific, but every instinct inside me screamed that something had changed.Someone was watching us.I stood behind the curtains of my apartment, carefully moving the fabric aside.Across the street sat a black sedan.It wasn’t unusual to see unfamiliar cars in Manhattan. Cars came and went constantly. People parked, left, returned, and disappeared into buildings.But this car had been there for days.And I saw it yesterday.My fingers tightened around the curtain.I stepped back.Was I starting to imagine things?.Maybe the past six weeks had simply made me paranoid.Jason had found me.Melissa was in Manhattan.Kieran was here.Too many pieces of my carefully controlled life were colliding at once.I couldn’t afford to become careless.Especially not with Daniel and Elena.I looked to

Kieran POVI barely slept.The image of Aurora standing behind that door stayed in my mind all night.Her red eyes.The hesitation in her expression.The way she had looked at me as though my presence at her home had shaken something loose inside her.I hadn’t meant to stay long the previous night.I had only wanted to bring the twins their favorite desserts.Daniel loved chocolate cake.Elena loved strawberry cheesecake.It was a small gesture.Nothing more.At least, that’s what I had told myself.But when Aurora finally opened the door, I had seen something in her eyes.Fear and pain.Not fear of me exactly.Something deeper. She was desperately trying to hide her feelings.The next morning, I found myself thinking about her again.For years, I had believed I was incapable of feeling at peace.Yet whenever those children were nearby, my body seemed to forget that it was supposed to be tense.By late afternoon, I found myself standing outside Aurora’s apartment again.This time, I

Ethan POVThe archives at Pacific Crest Hospital smelled exactly like old secrets.Dust,Paper and Cold metal cabinets.And years of information that nobody expected to ever see again.I stood in the middle of the records room, staring at the shelves surrounding me.Eight years.That was how far back I had been asked to search.Eight years to find one night.One incident.One answer.And possibly the missing piece connecting Kieran and Aurora.I pulled out another box.PACIFIC CREST HOSPITAL – EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT – ARCHIVED RECORDSThe label was faded.I placed it on the table and opened it.Most of the documents were ordinary.Admissions.Discharges.Medication charts.Staff reports.Emergency room schedules.Nothing unusual.Nothing that explained why Aurora Evans had been present that night.I continued searching.Another folder.Nothing.Another.Nothing.Then I found something strange.Several pages had been stamped:SEALED.I frowned.“Why would emergency records from years ag