“Didn’t have any. Foster homes. I ran when they started hitting me.”
Ethan’s stomach twisted. “They hurt you?”
“They said I was cursed,” Liam whispered.
“You’re not cursed,” Ethan said firmly.
The boy looked up. “Then why are you being nice to me? No one ever is.”
“Because you remind me of my daughter. She disappeared five years ago.”
Liam froze. For a moment, something flickered in his expression — fear, confusion, pain.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured.
Ethan showed him a photo of Isla smiling with the same pendant. Liam’s face drained of color.
“I don’t want to see it,” he stammered, shoving the phone away. “I have to go.”
“Wait—please. I can help you.”
“No one can,” Liam said, tears welling. “Everyone who gets close to me gets hurt.”
Then he ran, disappearing into the alleys.
That night, Ethan called his old investigator, Daniel Ross.
“Daniel, it’s me. I think I found a boy wearing Isla’s necklace.”
After a long silence, Daniel said, “If that’s true, this goes deeper than we thought. Don’t do anything alone.”
The next morning, Daniel arrived with old case files. “Tell me everything.”
When Ethan finished, Daniel sighed. “There’s something I never told you. Isla’s kidnapping wasn’t random. Someone had been watching your family. She was targeted.”
“Targeted for what?” Ethan demanded.
“An international trafficking network,” Daniel said grimly. “They alter children’s identities — names, records… sometimes even gender.”
Ethan’s world tilted. “You’re saying Isla might’ve been raised as a boy?”
“It’s possible,” Daniel replied quietly.
Rage flared in Ethan’s chest. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“There was no proof. You were barely surviving as it was.”
See more on the next page
Advertisement
