Have you found anything? Daniel took out his cell phone and impatiently swiped the screen. I called some contacts, but I don’t have anything yet. No one knows about her.
And why don’t you try looking for her yourself? Because I don’t know where to start. Mark scoffed. Brother, stop messing with your head and do what you would do with any other investment.
Look for information. Didn’t you have contacts in a smaller town, like upstate New York? You said she was from there, right? Daniel fell silent. Maybe someone has seen her.
A friend. An old contact. What do you have to lose by trying? Daniel sighed.
Nothing. Exactly. So get your butt in gear and start looking.
That afternoon, Daniel drove to a small town upstate. As he drove, his mind spun out of control. The child.
Ever since he saw him, the image had stuck to him like a splinter. He couldn’t stop thinking about his eyes. His mother always said the Brooks family had an unmistakable gaze.
That intense blue, rarely seen. If Amelia had had a child, why did she never tell him? If he was his, why did she hide something like that from him? He gripped the steering wheel tightly. The idea that she could have hidden something so important from him filled him with rage.
But there was also fear. Fear of discovering that he had lost three years of his son’s life. The search in the town was harder than he imagined.
He asked in cafes, bookstores, and even universities. But no one seemed to know her. Until he reached a small restaurant near the town square.
Amelia Green, he asked the waitress, showing her an old photo on his cell phone. The woman frowned, as if trying to remember. I think I’ve seen her.
She comes sometimes with her boy. Daniel’s heart raced. Do you know where she lives? No, but she usually comes in the afternoons.
Daniel ordered a coffee and waited. The clock read six when Amelia entered the restaurant. Daniel saw her before she noticed him.
She was wearing a grey coat, the same one she had at the airport. She walked quickly, as if she was used to surveying her surroundings. And there he was.
The child, Leo. She held his hand. And Daniel’s blood froze.
The resemblance was impossible to ignore. He stood up just as Amelia looked up and saw him. Her eyes widened in shock.
What are you doing here? She whispered. I could ask you the same thing. The tension was unbearable.
Amelia straightened up, as if she wanted to block her reaction. It’s not the time. You’ve been hiding from me for three years.
I think any time is a good time. She pressed her lips together. I have nothing to say to you.
Daniel let out a bitter laugh. Seriously? He looked at the child. Nothing to say to me? Amelia swallowed and looked around nervously.
Don’t do this here. Daniel leaned towards her, his voice low and tense. Is that child mine? Amelia felt the world crashing down on her.
What do you think Amelia will say or do next? Will she reveal the truth or continue to hide? Share your thoughts in the comments. The unspoken truth and a mother’s confession. Amelia felt her throat close up.
The restaurant seemed to have fallen silent. The weight of Daniel’s question was unbearable. And although her instinct screamed at her to run, she knew that this time she wouldn’t be able to escape.
Amelia, his voice was low, contained, but dangerous. Answer me. She swallowed and looked at Leo, who was playing with a plastic spoon on the table.
Not here, she whispered. Daniel let out a bitter laugh. Then where? Because it seems that if I don’t run into you by chance, you were never going to tell me.
Amelia felt the burning in her eyes, but forced herself to remain firm. My place. Daniel watched her, hesitating.
It’s not a trap, she said wearily. He nodded distrustfully. Let’s go.
Amelia’s apartment was small, two sparsely furnished rooms. Daniel looked around without saying anything, but his expression said it all. You lived like this with my son? Leo fell asleep on the sofa as soon as they arrived.
Daniel stared at him intently. Is he mine? He asked again, directly. Amelia felt her stomach knot.
Yes. The word hung in the air. Daniel let out a sigh, as if he had been punched in the chest.
He ran his hands over his face, and then walked to the window, turning his back to her. How long have you known? Since the beginning. And you never thought of telling me? I couldn’t.
Daniel turned sharply. You couldn’t? Why? Amelia closed her eyes for a second before speaking. Your mother forced me to leave.
Daniel’s face hardened. What? When I found out I was pregnant, I tried to tell you, but Eleanor got to me first. She told me you were no longer interested in me, that you were with another woman.
Daniel’s eyes widened in fury. That’s a lie. I know.
But at that moment I didn’t know, and she offered me money to disappear so I wouldn’t cause you problems. Did you accept? No. Amelia lifted her chin.
I left because she made me doubt, because I felt displaced before I could even talk to you. Daniel felt his blood boil. I can’t believe my mother would do that.
Amelia looked down. I didn’t expect you to. The silence between them was thick.
I need a moment, he said, walking away towards the door. Daniel, she called. He stopped but didn’t turn around.
I’m not leaving, he said firmly. Leo is my son. I’m not disappearing.
And he left, leaving Amelia with a lump in her throat, the unseen years and a fierce resolve. Daniel walked aimlessly through the streets of the small town, his mind spinning out of control. His mother, Eleanor Brooks, had always been a manipulative woman, but he never thought she would go this far, manipulating Amelia, making her believe he had forgotten her, and worst of all, hiding his own son from him.
He leaned against a wall and closed his eyes, breathing deeply. Leo, now everything made sense. From the moment he saw the child, he knew there was something more, something that couldn’t just be a coincidence.