Chapter 1 - It’s Not Mine
Noah was crying so hard his shoulders shook.
The two-year-old sat trapped in his wooden high chair beside the penthouse’s white marble island, both hands wrapped around a small drink carton.
Claire stood directly behind him.
“Drink it. Stop crying right now.”
Noah pushed the carton away.
Claire caught the back of his head and forced him toward it.
That was the moment Ethan entered through the glass doors.
His briefcase hit the floor a second later.
“Stay away from my son!”
He crossed the kitchen fast, knocked Claire away from the chair, and lifted Noah into his arms.
The boy clung desperately around Ethan’s neck.
Ethan turned his body, shielding him.
Claire recovered.
“I was just giving him what he needed.”
Ethan looked down.
Noah still held the little carton.
His fingers trembled around it.
Ethan gently took it.
Noah whispered:
“It’s not mine.”
Ethan froze.
“What do you mean?”
Noah pointed toward Claire.
Her confidence vanished.
Ethan examined the carton.
A glossy label had been stuck over the original packaging.
He lifted one corner.
Claire lunged.
“Give me that!”
Ethan shoved her back from Noah and pulled the carton out of reach.
Beneath the fake label was a hospital-issued sticker.
Most of the name remained covered.
But one line was visible:
PATIENT: ______ CARTER
And below it:
PEDIATRIC NUTRITION UNIT
Date:
Three years earlier.
Noah was only two.
Then Noah said through tears:
“She said it belonged to my big brother.”
Ethan slowly looked up.
“The boy doesn’t have a big brother.”
Claire’s eyes widened.
She covered her mouth.
Ethan peeled another inch of label.
A first letter appeared.
L.
Claire screamed:
“DON’T!”
Ethan stopped.
“Who is L?”
Claire’s lips trembled.
“No one.”
Noah leaned against his father and whispered:
“Leo.”
The carton slipped slightly in Ethan’s hand.
He knew that name.
Three years ago, before Noah was born, Ethan’s wife Emily had been pregnant.
She lost the baby late in pregnancy.
They had named him Leo.
May you like
Or at least—
that was what Ethan had been told.
