Chapter 6
I stared at the phone long after Evelyn stopped speaking.
My first living child.
Those four words echoed inside my head.
For eight years, I had believed my son was dead.
Now I was learning that his disappearance might have been connected to money.
Money my father had left him.
Money Julian couldn't easily control.
Samuel sat across from me, his face pale.
I repeated Evelyn's words.
He closed his eyes.
"Oh, Henry."
I leaned forward.
"What?"
Samuel looked at me.
"Your father created a separate trust for your first child."
My breath caught.
"How much?"
He hesitated.
"Sophia, that isn't the most important part."
"Tell me."
He took a long breath.
"At current valuations, it's worth approximately eighty million dollars."
I stared at him.
Eighty million.
My father had left that money for a child he never lived to meet.
And Julian had told me the child was dead.
My hands began trembling.
"What happened to the trust when Toby supposedly died?"
Samuel opened a folder.
"The trust terms provide for alternative beneficiaries if no eligible child survives. But your father's instructions required independent verification."
I felt dizzy.
"Did Julian try to access it?"
"Repeatedly."
Samuel's voice hardened.
"He argued that the assets should be transferred into related family holdings."
I covered my mouth.
"Did you let him?"
"Absolutely not."
I started crying.
For the first time in days, those tears carried relief.
My father had protected Toby even after his own death.
Samuel continued.
"Julian could not obtain the money simply by claiming the child was dead. But he may have believed that removing the child from your life would eventually help him control the outcome."
I stared at the wall.
"So he made me believe Toby died."
Samuel nodded slowly.
"That's one possible explanation. The investigators will need to establish the full motive."
I looked through the hospital window.
Toby was drawing on a sheet of paper.
A nurse had given him colored pencils.
He was concentrating so hard that his tongue stuck out slightly.
I remembered doing that as a child.
My chest tightened.
"He grew up believing nobody wanted him."
Samuel's eyes filled.
"And now he'll learn the truth."
Two days later, the DNA results arrived.
Angela asked me to sit down before she opened the report.
I held Toby's hand.
Samuel stood beside me.
My heart pounded so hard I could barely hear.
Angela looked at the document.
Then she raised her eyes.
"Sophia, the results strongly support a biological mother-son relationship between you and Toby."
For a moment, the room went silent.
I stared at her.
"He's mine?"
She nodded.
"The findings confirm what the other evidence suggested."
I covered my mouth.
A sound escaped me.
Half sob.
Half prayer.
I turned toward Toby.
He looked frightened.
"Did I do something wrong?"
I dropped to my knees.
"No, baby."
My tears fell onto my dress.
"You didn't do anything wrong."
He stared at me.
I took both his hands.
"Toby, I need to tell you something."
He swallowed.
"What?"
I could barely speak.
"Eight years ago, I had a little boy."
He watched me carefully.
"I loved him more than anything in the world."
His eyes widened.
"But someone told me he'd died."
Toby looked confused.
I squeezed his hands.
"I spent every day missing him."
He whispered, "Where is he?"
I began crying harder.
"He's right here."
Toby stared at me.
Then his eyes moved toward Angela.
Back to Samuel.
Finally, back to me.
"Me?"
I nodded.
"Yes, sweetheart."
His mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
I reached toward him.
"May I hug you?"
For one terrible second, he didn't move.
Then he threw himself into my arms.
"Mommy?"
The word broke something inside me.
I held him as tightly as I dared.
"Yes, baby."
He began sobbing.
"You're really my mommy?"
"Yes."
"You didn't leave me?"
"No!"
I kissed his hair.
"I never left you. I was told you were gone."
His little body shook.
"They said you didn't want me."
I pulled back just enough to look into his eyes.
"Listen to me, Toby."
He sniffed.
"There has never been one second of your life when I stopped loving you."
He began crying harder.
I held him until he stopped shaking.
And for the first time in eight years, I felt the empty place inside my heart begin to heal.
But the danger wasn't over.
That afternoon, Samuel received documents from Julian's attorneys.
Julian was contesting my ability to make decisions involving Toby's care.
He alleged that I had manipulated the child and that my grief made me unfit to handle the situation.
I stared at the papers.
"He's still trying."
Samuel nodded.
"Yes."
I felt anger rise.
"He stole eight years from us."
I looked toward Toby.
"And now he wants more?"
Samuel placed a hand over mine.
"We'll answer through the court."
I nodded.
"Do whatever is necessary."
Later, Detective Hale called.
Evelyn had agreed to cooperate formally.
She was providing investigators with records and identifying people who had participated in the child's transfer.
The storage-unit documents had revealed several suspicious cases involving children whose identities or placements had been improperly recorded.
I listened in horror.
"Are they safe?"
"Investigators are working with child protection agencies to locate and assess each child."
I gripped the phone.
"Please keep me informed."
"We will share what we're legally able to."
After the call, I found Toby sitting beside the window.
He was holding the old Polaroid.
He looked at it for a long time.
Then he turned toward me.
"Mommy?"
My heart still skipped whenever he said that word.
"Yes?"
"Why am I little in this picture?"
I sat beside him.
"Because you were only a few minutes old."
He smiled.
"Was I cute?"
I laughed.
"The cutest baby I'd ever seen."
He studied the photograph again.
"Did you hold me?"
I nodded.
"Yes."
"Did I cry?"
"A little."
He smiled.
"Did you cry?"
I swallowed.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I was so happy."
Toby looked at me.
Then he climbed into my lap.
His arms wrapped around my neck.
"I'm happy now too."
I held him close.
Outside, rain began tapping against the glass.
For a moment, the world felt peaceful.
Then Samuel appeared in the doorway.
His expression was grim.
"Sophia."
I looked up.
"What happened?"
He held out a legal notice.
"Julian has requested an emergency hearing."
My stomach tightened.
"About Toby?"
Samuel nodded.
"And he's filed a separate claim challenging the administration of your father's trusts."
I held my son closer.
Samuel's voice became quiet.
"He's going to fight you with everything he has."
I looked down at Toby.
May you like
Then back at Samuel.
"Then he'll discover I'm no longer afraid of him."
