The Man Ethan Thought Was Dead
Ethan found Victor Hale in a private rehabilitation facility two days later.
He was alive.
Older.
Weak.
But conscious.
Victor looked at Ethan.
“You look like your mother.”
Ethan stood beside the bed.
“You knew her.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Daniel.”
Victor closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“You helped him.”
Victor sighed.
“I did.”
Ethan's voice hardened.
“Why?”
“Money.”
The answer was simple.
Too simple.
Victor admitted that Daniel had promised him control of Harrison Holdings.
But Daniel betrayed him.
When Margaret discovered the fraud, Daniel planned to eliminate everyone who could expose him.
Victor became afraid.
He disappeared.
Michael helped him disappear.
“Why would my father help you?”
“Because your mother asked him to.”
Ethan stared.
“She wanted me alive.”
Victor looked away.
“Your mother knew Daniel would come after you.”
Ethan felt his chest tighten.
“What happened to her?”
Victor remained silent.
“Tell me.”
“She wasn't killed.”
Ethan froze.
“What?”
“She survived the accident.”
Ethan couldn't breathe.
“Then why did my father say she died?”
Victor looked directly at him.
“Because she disappeared willingly.”
Ethan stepped backward.
“No.”
“She believed the only way to protect you was to make Daniel think she was dead.”
Ethan's world seemed to collapse.
His mother might still be alive.
Victor reached beneath his pillow.
He pulled out a small envelope.
“Your father never gave you this.”
Inside was a photograph.
A woman standing in a foreign city.
Older.
But unmistakably Ethan's mother.
On the back was a message.
“My son, when you are ready, come find me.”
Ethan stared at the photograph.
For twenty-three years, he had believed she was dead.
Now he had proof.
May you like
She might still be alive.
And someone had kept the truth from him.
