oved. The only sound was the faint hum of the city traffic far below, mut

is jaw was tight, his eyes fixed on the frozen image still displayed on his phone screen. That

him. His fingers drummed against the armrest in a slow, rhythmic pattern. He was thinking. Processing

ight sky. His reflection in the glass showed a face carved from stone. Unread

than broke

ce of a lawyer who had argued hundreds of cases without ever show

ed up at his older brother with calm, measu

snapped towa

d, his tone even and reasonable. "What if this

birth

o his pockets. "Birthmarks are not unique identifiers, Ethan. You know

scraping against concrete. "Eight times Father thought he found her. Eight time

ched on the desk. "

we cannot rush into this blindly. Father has suffered for twenty-five years searching for his daughter. Twenty-five years of hope

the air like smoke.

When he opened them again, the fire in them had

from her. We run the test ourselves before we say anything to Father. If it comes back positive, then w

a grim line. "And how exactly do you plan to get her DNA without her k

le, barely there, but it carried

Ry

her. I will get close to her. I will get what we need. And I

built his company from nothing into a billion-dollar empire before he turned thirty. He was s

omething that made Ethan uneasy. A kind of inte

ally our sister. If she is the one, she has been through hell. The vid

to help her. I am going to get close enough to earn her trust, and then I am going to make sure we k

agreement or frustration. It was hard to

delivery girl, which means she probably lives in a modest neighborhood. I will reach out to her tonight. Offer help. She is drow

to be that someone

ing to be exactly what she needs right now. A friend.

f them looked entirely comfortable with this pl

has been searching for all these years-then she has already been abandoned once. Kidnapped. Stolen from her family. She grew up

was serious now, all traces of his earlier confidence r

will get her sample for the DNA test, and I will do it without c

Ethan's desk. He looked down at the phone screen, at the frozen ima

s barely above a whisper. "What if we

ut to be their long-lost sister. Their lives would change. Father's life would change. Everything t

to know. They

is phone. Then he opened a new message thread and began c

n. Currently works as a delivery girl. Married to actor Liam Kingston. Divorce just finalized. I

hit

s. "I will get you the DNA sam