Chapter 2 - The Stolen Name
Ethan froze, his gaze darting between Claire’s exhausted face and the crested seal of the Sterling family. For a second, the world lost all gravity.
""Ethan,"" Claire whispered, her voice barely audible over the rhythmic beep of the heart monitor. ""You shouldn’t have come.""
He crossed the room on legs that felt like lead. The smell of antiseptic could not mask her familiar lavender scent—the perfume he had spent nine agonizing months trying to forget. He dropped to his knees beside the hospital bed, completely heedless of the puddles his soaked clothes left on the linoleum floor.
Slowly, reverently, he peered into the soft folds of the blanket. A tiny face, red and swollen from birth, peered blindly toward the light. Wisps of dark brown hair crowned the child’s forehead, mirroring Ethan’s own. A tiny, perfect fist curled against Claire’s breast.
""He... he’s mine,"" Ethan breathed, tears finally spilling over his lashes and tracking down his jaw. ""Claire, my god... he’s my son.""
""His name is Noah,"" Claire said, tears welling in her tired eyes as her knuckles tightened around the blanket. ""And you weren't supposed to know. I swore to myself I wouldn't drag you down.""
""Drag me down?"" Ethan choked out, grasping her trembling hand. ""You vanished! You let me believe I meant nothing to you, while you carried my child alone in the dark?""
""I had to!"" Claire pulled her hand back as if burned, turning her head away to hide a sudden sob. ""You think I wanted this? You think I wanted to give birth in a public hospital with nobody by my side while you pledged your life to someone else?""
Ethan stood up, his jaw clenched, and reached for the envelope on the bedside table. ""What is this, Claire? Why does Vanessa's father have documents sitting beside your hospital bed?""
Claire’s breath hitched. She reached desperately to snatch the paper away, but Ethan was faster. He pulled out the crisp white legal parchment.
It was a full surrender of parental rights. Attached to it was a cashier’s check made out to Claire Henderson for five million dollars, dated three months prior.
May you like
Ethan’s blood turned to liquid ice as his eyes fell to the bottom of the page.
Claire had already signed her name.
