Chương 4
“And then?”
Maya closed her eyes.
“Then I received messages from his family.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“They wanted the baby?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Maya looked at Noah.
“Because they believed he was the only connection they had left to their son.”
Daniel looked at the documents again.
“But why now?”
Eleanor answered.
“Because they discovered Daniel was involved.”
Daniel frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“They knew Maya had built a life with you.”
The room felt colder.
Daniel understood.
They were not just searching for Noah.
They were trying to control what happened to him.
Maya stepped closer.
“I should have told you everything before.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Yes.”
She nodded.
“I know.”
“But why did you think I would abandon him?”
Maya’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because I had seen people walk away when things became complicated.”
Daniel softened slightly.
“I am not those people.”
“I know that now.”
The words hurt because they were true.
Maya had spent so much time protecting herself from losing him that she never gave him the chance to prove he would stay.
Claire looked at the documents.
“So what happens now?”
Nobody answered immediately.
Because everyone knew the real danger was not the past.
It was what came next.
Marcus looked toward the hospital door.
“Are we sure they do not know we are here?”
Eleanor’s face changed.
“What do you mean?”
Marcus pointed toward the hallway.
“Someone has been standing outside for the last few minutes.”
Everyone turned.
The room suddenly became tense again.
Daniel moved closer to Maya and the baby without thinking.
The protective instinct came before the confusion.
A shadow passed the small window on the hospital door.
Maya froze.
She recognized the movement.
Her breathing changed.
Daniel noticed.
“Who is it?”
Maya whispered.
“I don’t know.”
Eleanor quickly gathered the documents.
The female medical worker in the background quietly stepped closer.
She had noticed the sudden change in the room.
A moment later, there was a knock on the door.
Nobody responded.
The knock came again.
This time louder.
Daniel looked at Marcus.
Marcus gave a small nod.
He moved toward the door carefully.
Daniel stayed beside Maya.
The baby remained asleep, unaware of the tension surrounding him.
Marcus opened the door slightly.
A man stood outside.
He appeared to be in his late fifties.
His face was serious.
His eyes immediately moved toward Maya.
Maya stopped breathing.
Daniel saw the reaction.
He knew instantly.
This was the person they had been talking about.
The man from the past.
The man connected to the documents.
The man who had created months of fear.
“May I come in?” the man asked.
Nobody answered.
Daniel stepped forward.
“No.”
The man looked at him.
“You must be Daniel.”
Daniel’s expression remained firm.
“And you must be the person who has been threatening my family.”
The man’s face changed slightly.
“I never threatened anyone.”
Maya laughed softly, but there was no happiness in the sound.
“You sent lawyers.”
“I sent requests.”
“You sent people to follow me.”
The man looked away for a moment.
That small reaction said more than his words.
Daniel noticed.
“Why are you here?”
The man looked at the baby.
“I came to see my grandson.”
Maya immediately moved closer to Noah.
“No.”
The man looked hurt.
“You cannot keep him from his own family forever.”
Daniel stepped between them.
“He is not an object you can claim.”
The man looked at Daniel carefully.
“You do not know the whole story.”
Daniel answered without hesitation.
“Then tell it.”
The man remained silent.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Finally, he said something that shocked everyone.
“I did not come here to take him.”
Maya looked suspicious.
“Then why?”
The man looked at the papers in Eleanor’s hands.
“Because someone else is trying to take him.”
The room went silent.
Daniel stared at him.
“What are you talking about?”
The man took a slow breath.
“The documents you have are incomplete.”
Eleanor stepped forward.
“What do you mean?”
“There is another person involved.”
Maya’s face changed.
“No.”
The man nodded.
“Yes.”
Daniel looked between them.
“Who?”
The man’s eyes moved toward the envelope Eleanor had opened.
“Someone who has been controlling this situation from the beginning.”
The hospital room fell silent once again.
Because everyone realized the truth they had uncovered was only the beginning.
The secret that had brought them together was not just about a family divided by the past.
It was about someone hidden in the shadows who had been waiting for the right moment to make their move.
The secret that had brought them together was not just about a family divided by the past.
It was about someone hidden in the shadows who had been waiting for the right moment to make their move.
Daniel looked at the man standing in the doorway.
Every instinct told him to protect Maya and Noah.
But another part of him knew that ignoring this information could put them in greater danger.
“Come inside,” Daniel said.
Maya looked at him in surprise.
“Daniel.”
He turned slightly toward her.
“If he knows something that can help us, we need to hear it.”
The man stepped into the room slowly.
His eyes never left Noah.
“My name is Richard.”
Nobody responded.
Richard looked at Maya.
“I know you hate me.”
Maya held the baby closer.
“I don’t hate you.”
Her voice was quiet.
“I just don’t trust you.”
Richard nodded.
“That is fair.”
Daniel watched their exchange carefully.
There was history between them.
Painful history.
But there was also something else.
Regret.
Richard looked at Eleanor.
“You found the envelope.”
Eleanor’s expression hardened.
“I hoped I would never need to open it.”
“I hoped you never would either.”
Daniel looked confused.
“You both knew about this?”
Eleanor sighed.
“We knew pieces of it.”
Daniel shook his head.
“That is exactly the problem.”
His voice carried frustration.
“Everyone knows pieces except me.”
Nobody argued.
May you like
Because nobody could deny it.
Daniel looked at Richard.
