Chapter 2 - The Stolen Decade
Nora gripped the yellow blanket tightly.
Her heart hammered against her ribs.
She looked at Toby’s confused face.
She wanted to hug him.
She wanted to scream.
Instead, she gently placed the blanket back into his tin.
“Toby, I have to go see my daughter.”
She grabbed her suitcase and rushed out the front door.
Rain had started to fall over the city.
Nora threw her bag into the passenger seat of her car.
She started the engine with shaking hands.
She drove through the dark, wet streets.
Her mind raced through the past ten years.
She remembered Elise crying in the hospital bed.
She remembered Greg handling all the medical paperwork.
She remembered Greg insisting they use a private mountain clinic.
He had orchestrated the entire tragedy.
He had stolen a child to protect his family’s social image.
Nora pulled up to Elise’s apartment building.
She ran through the rain to the glass lobby doors.
She took the elevator to the fifth floor.
She pounded on the wooden door of apartment 5B.
A moment later, the locks unfastened.
Elise opened the door.
She was twenty-eight, wearing sweatpants and an oversized shirt.
She held a half-empty mug of tea.
“Mom?”
Elise looked at Nora’s wet hair and frantic eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
Nora pushed past her into the living room.
“Your father is a monster.”
Elise closed the door slowly.
“Did he have another affair?”
Nora turned around.
“He brought a ten-year-old boy home tonight.”
Elise froze.
“A boy?”
“He claimed the child was his son.”
Elise looked at the floor.
“I guess I shouldn't be surprised.”
Nora walked closer to her daughter.
“Elise, the boy had a yellow blanket in his bag.”
Elise looked up.
Her eyes widened in shock.
“A yellow blanket?”
“With hand-stitched daisies.”
Elise dropped her mug.
The ceramic shattered against the kitchen tiles.
Hot tea splashed across her bare feet.
She did not seem to feel it.
“That’s impossible.”
Nora grabbed Elise’s trembling shoulders.
“The baby didn't die, Elise.”
Elise began to hyperventilate.
“Dad told me he wasn't breathing.”
“He lied.”
“He showed me a death certificate.”
“He forged it.”
Elise collapsed onto the edge of her sofa.
She buried her face in her hands.
Ten years of silent grieving tore out of her in a loud sob.
She had dropped out of college.
She had gone to years of therapy.
She had believed she was broken.
Nora sat beside her and held her tight.
“He paid a woman named Diane to raise him.”
Elise looked up through her tears.
“Where is he now?”
“He is at the house.”
Elise stood up abruptly.
A fierce, protective rage replaced her grief.
“I am getting my son.”
She did not even put on shoes.
She grabbed her car keys from the counter.
Nora followed her back down to the street.
They drove back to the sprawling suburban estate.
The rain was falling harder now.
They pulled into the long driveway.
A black luxury SUV was idling near the front porch.
Two men in dark suits stood near the bumper.
Nora felt a surge of panic.
She recognized the men as Greg’s corporate security team.
Elise threw her car into park and leaped out.
She ran up the porch steps.
The front door was wide open.
Greg was standing in the foyer.
He was holding Toby by the arm.
The boy was wearing a heavy winter coat.
He was crying.
Elise burst through the doorway.
“Let him go!”
Greg looked at his daughter without any emotion.
“You should not have come here, Elise.”
Elise tried to run toward Toby.
Greg stepped in front of the boy.
“He is my son.”
“He is my baby!” Elise screamed.
Nora rushed inside and stood beside her daughter.
“We know everything, Greg.”
Greg adjusted his expensive watch.
“You know nothing.”
Nora pointed at him.
“You faked a death to hide a teen pregnancy.”
Greg sighed like a disappointed teacher.
“I protected this family from a humiliating scandal.”
Elise stared at her father in disgust.
“You destroyed my life.”
“I saved your life,” Greg snapped.
He pulled a thick folder from his coat pocket.
He threw it onto the foyer table.
“And I am fixing the problem again.”
Nora looked at the folder.
It bore the seal of a family court.
“What is that?”
“Adoption papers,” Greg said calmly.
“I legally adopted Toby last week.”
Nora shook her head.
“You cannot do that.”
“I already did.”
Greg smiled a cold, calculating smile.
“Diane was dying, and I needed legal custody to move him.”
Elise stepped forward.
“Move him where?”
“To a boarding school in Geneva.”
Toby sobbed louder.
“I don't want to go!”
Elise reached for the boy.
“You are not taking him anywhere.”
Greg snapped his fingers.
The two security men walked into the foyer.
They stood between Elise and the child.
Greg looked at his wife and daughter.
“If you try to stop me, I will destroy you both.”
He pointed at Elise.
“I will tell the press you abandoned him.”
He pointed at Nora.
“And I will freeze every bank account you own.”
Nora felt a wave of absolute despair.
He had planned every detail.
He had weaponized his wealth.
Greg pulled Toby toward the door.
The boy dragged his feet against the rug.
“Please!” Toby cried.
Elise tried to push past the guards.
One of the men shoved her backward.
She fell onto the hardwood floor.
Nora dropped to her knees to help her daughter.
Greg walked out into the rain.
He pulled Toby into the backseat of the SUV.
The heavy car door slammed shut.
Nora watched through the open doorway.
The SUV’s headlights swept across the wet grass.
The vehicle sped down the driveway.
Elise lay on the floor and screamed in agony.
May you like
They had found him.
And they had instantly lost him again.
