Chapter 4 - THE BROTHER WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
Hudson didn't move.
For several seconds, nobody did.
"My brother?"
The words sounded foreign.
Impossible.
Hudson Vale had one brother.
Ethan.
Ethan had died twelve years earlier.
A boating accident on Lake Champlain.
At least, that was what Hudson had been told.
He turned toward Vivian.
"My brother is dead."
Vivian's face remained blank.
"Yes."
"Then explain what Naomi just said."
Vivian looked at Naomi.
Naomi was crying.
"I didn't say they were his."
"You said you knew who their father was."
"I know who Delilah believed was their father."
Hudson's pulse hammered.
"That's not the same thing."
"No."
"Then tell me."
Naomi looked toward the nursery.
"I can't."
Hudson slammed his hand onto the table.
"Everyone keeps saying they can't!"
The sound echoed through the mansion.
Naomi flinched.
Hudson immediately regretted it.
His voice softened.
"Please."
Naomi looked at him.
"You deserve the truth."
"Then give it to me."
She took a breath.
"Before your wife died, she told me she had discovered something."
"What?"
"Someone had altered her medical records."
Hudson frowned.
"Why?"
"Because the babies were conceived through IVF."
"I know."
"No."
Naomi shook her head.
"You don't know everything."
Hudson's expression changed.
"Go on."
"Delilah had frozen embryos."
"Yes."
"But she also had another donor profile."
Hudson stared.
"Whose?"
"Ethan's."
Silence.
Hudson's knees almost gave out.
"That's impossible."
"Your brother had agreed to be a donor before he died."
Hudson shook his head.
"Why?"
"Because Delilah was afraid you might not survive the accident you had years ago."
Hudson stared.
He remembered.
The crash.
The months of rehabilitation.
The doctor telling him his fertility might be affected.
But he'd never known Delilah had taken additional steps.
"Why didn't she tell me?"
"She tried."
Hudson's face tightened.
"When?"
"The night before the babies were born."
"She never said anything."
"She was interrupted."
"By who?"
Naomi looked toward Vivian.
Hudson followed her gaze.
His mother stood motionless.
"You."
Vivian's eyes narrowed.
"You think I killed Delilah?"
"No."
Hudson's voice was cold.
"I think you know why she was afraid."
Vivian turned away.
"Your wife was unstable."
Hudson's face hardened.
"Don't you dare."
"She was grieving."
"She was carrying five babies!"
"And blaming everyone around her."
"Get out."
Vivian laughed.
"You still don't understand."
"Get out."
She walked toward the door.
Then stopped.
"Ask yourself why the hospital records disappeared."
Hudson froze.
Vivian continued.
"Ask yourself why Ethan's death certificate was filed by a lawyer instead of the police."
Hudson stared.
"What?"
Vivian smiled.
"Your brother didn't die."
She left.
Hudson stood frozen.
Naomi whispered:
"That's what Delilah discovered."
That night, Hudson reopened every file connected to Ethan.
The accident report.
The insurance documents.
The death certificate.
The funeral records.
Something immediately looked wrong.
Ethan's body had never been recovered.
Hudson's father had told him the remains were too badly damaged for identification.
But the official report said something else.
No body recovered.
Hudson stared at the screen.
"Richard."
His assistant entered.
"Yes?"
"Find Ethan."
Richard froze.
"Sir?"
"Find my brother."
"He's dead."
"That's what everyone says."
Hudson pointed at the file.
"Start with the hospital records."
Richard nodded.
"And Richard?"
"Yes?"
"Don't tell my mother."
Three hours later, Richard returned.
His face was pale.
"We found something."
Hudson looked up.
"What?"
"Ethan's name appeared on a private medical insurance claim."
"When?"
"Three months ago."
Hudson stood.
"Where?"
"Boston."
Hudson's heart raced.
"Who filed it?"
Richard hesitated.
"A man using the name Daniel Cross."
Hudson's eyes narrowed.
"Photo?"
Richard placed a photograph on the desk.
Hudson stared.
The man was older.
Thinner.
But the eyes.
There was no mistaking them.
"Ethan."
At that exact moment, Naomi entered.
Hudson turned.
"You knew."
She shook her head.
"I suspected."
"You suspected my brother was alive?"
"Delilah suspected."
"Did she meet him?"
Naomi nodded.
"When?"
"Six months before she died."
Hudson's voice broke.
"Why?"
"He contacted her."
"About the babies?"
"Yes."
"What did he say?"
Naomi hesitated.
"He told her someone was trying to use the babies."
"For what?"
"I don't know."
Hudson grabbed his coat.
"I'm going to Boston."
Naomi stepped forward.
"Don't."
"Why?"
"Because if Ethan is alive, someone wanted him hidden."
Hudson stopped.
"And if that person knows you found him?"
Naomi's face went white.
A loud crash came from upstairs.
Both of them ran.
The nursery door was open.
The babies were crying.
And the window was broken.
Hudson rushed to the cribs.
All five girls were there.
But something was missing.
Naomi screamed.
"Where's Evelyn?"
Hudson spun around.
One crib was empty.
The smallest baby was gone.
On the floor lay a note.
Hudson picked it up.
Only one sentence.
Bring Naomi to the lake if you want your daughter back.
Hudson looked at Naomi.
She was trembling.
He understood immediately.
May you like
This was no longer about the past.
Someone had come for his daughter.
