Chapter 6 - The Child Nobody Mentioned
Maya showed Jonathan the messages.
He read them.
Then sat down.
For a long time he said nothing.
“Jonathan?”
His face had changed completely.
“There was another baby.”
Maya stared.
“You have another son?”
“No.”
“You just said—”
“Evelyn and I had another child before Noah.”
His voice was quiet.
“A boy.”
“What happened?”
“He died.”
Maya felt the tension shift.
“How old?”
“Two days.”
“When?”
“Thirteen years ago.”
“Before I worked here.”
“Yes.”
“What was his name?”
“Samuel.”
Jonathan rubbed both hands over his face.
“He was born early. Respiratory failure. The doctors tried everything.”
“Was he born at St. Catherine’s?”
Jonathan looked up.
“Yes.”
Maya’s stomach tightened.
“Was Dr. Cole there?”
“I don’t know.”
“What about Celeste?”
“I didn’t know her.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Jonathan looked toward the interrogation room.
The hospital photograph suddenly mattered even more.
Evelyn’s suspicions might not have begun with her own illness.
They may have begun with Samuel.
Noah was released from the hospital three days later under strict medical supervision.
He refused to return to the mansion.
Jonathan rented a secure townhouse.
Maya moved into the guest room temporarily.
Noah woke from nightmares every night.
Sometimes he knocked on the wall.
Three short.
Two long.
Three short.
Maya always answered.
On the fourth evening, Jonathan finally told Noah about Samuel.
The boy listened silently.
“Why didn’t you tell me I had a brother?”
“You were little.”
“I’m eleven.”
“I should have told you.”
Noah looked at him.
“Mom did.”
Jonathan froze.
“What?”
“She told me I had a brother.”
“When?”
“Before she died.”
Jonathan sat down slowly.
“What exactly did she say?”
Noah closed his eyes, remembering.
“She said sometimes families bury a truth because looking at it hurts.”
Maya and Jonathan exchanged a glance.
“She said Samuel wasn’t supposed to be forgotten.”
Jonathan’s face tightened.
“Anything else?”
“She said if I ever found a black folder, I should bring it to you.”
Jonathan leaned forward.
“Why didn’t you?”
Noah’s voice became smaller.
“Because Celeste caught me.”
The black folder had been inside Jonathan’s hidden office compartment.
Noah took it out.
He saw photographs.
Hospital records.
A list of names.
Celeste walked in.
At first she remained calm.
She asked Noah to hand it over.
He refused.
Then she told him Jonathan had hidden the file because it contained proof that Evelyn had become mentally unstable.
Noah still refused.
That night she showed him the edited video of Jonathan saying, “Do whatever it takes.”
Then Dr. Cole arrived.
“He told me Dad wanted me to take medicine.”
Jonathan’s fists clenched.
“Did he put you in the room?”
Noah shook his head.
“Celeste did.”
That destroyed her latest story.
“She said it would only be one night.”
Maya asked, “What changed?”
Noah looked frightened.
“The folder was gone.”
“Who took it?”
“I don’t know.”
“And then?”
“She kept asking where I put the last page.”
Jonathan frowned.
“What last page?”
Noah reached into the waistband of his dark pants.
Maya stared.
“You still have it?”
Noah nodded.
“I hid it inside the seam.”
He had kept the same pants during his confinement.
Doctors had returned his belongings after testing.
Maya carefully opened the small stitched section Noah indicated.
Inside was a folded photograph.
Jonathan took it.
The image showed newborn Samuel inside a hospital incubator.
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On the back, Evelyn had written:
THIS IS NOT THE CHILD THEY RETURNED TO ME.
