Chapter 2: The Secret Behind the Little Boy
The next morning, Claire returned to the street where she found Ethan.
But he was gone.
She searched nearby.
The café.
The park.
The alley behind the stores.
Nothing.
She began to worry.
Not because she felt responsible.
Because she had realized something.
Ethan was not just a homeless child.
He was a child who had disappeared from the world.
A child nobody was looking for.
Finally, she found him sitting beside an old building, counting coins.
The same paper cup.
The same broken shoes.
But this time…
Claire sat beside him.
“You didn’t have to come back here.”
Ethan looked surprised.
“You came back?”
Claire nodded.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
The question hurt more than she expected.
Because Ethan genuinely didn’t understand why someone would return for him.
“Because I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Ethan looked away.
Nobody had ever said that before.
Claire offered him a small bag.
Inside were new clothes.
Shoes.
Food.
But Ethan didn’t immediately take them.
“I can’t pay you.”
Claire smiled sadly.
“You don’t have to.”
“My mom said nothing is free.”
Claire looked at him carefully.
“Your mother was right.”
She handed him the bag.
“But sometimes people give because they care.”
That day, Claire learned Ethan’s story.
He had been living alone for nearly five months.
After his mother died, he was placed in temporary care.
But after running away from an abusive shelter worker, he ended up on the streets.
He was afraid.
Not of being poor.
He was afraid of trusting people.
Because every person who promised to help him eventually disappeared.
Claire made a decision.
A decision that would change both their lives.
“I want you to stay with me.”
Ethan froze.
“Like… forever?”
Claire smiled.
“Like family.”
But before she could complete the paperwork, a problem appeared.
A social worker contacted her.
There was something strange about Ethan’s case.
His records were incomplete.
His mother had hidden information.
And there was a reason nobody knew who Ethan’s father was.
The next day, Claire received an envelope.
Inside was an old photograph.
A young man holding a baby.
On the back, a name was written.
Michael Anderson.
Claire’s blood ran cold.
Because Michael Anderson was her older brother.
The brother who disappeared twelve years ago.
The brother everyone believed had died.
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And the baby in the photo…
Was Ethan.
