Chapter 3 - The Stolen Bracelet
Alexander stared at the signature on the contract as if he had just seen a ghost.
Evelyn shrank back against the couch, terrified by his sudden change in demeanor.
"That is my birth name," she replied, her voice barely a whisper.
Alexander turned away quickly, rubbing his temples as if fighting off a massive headache.
"Get out of my office and let the nanny take Noah," he ordered abruptly.
"But he will wake up crying," Evelyn argued, tightening her protective hold on the boy.
"I said get out!" Alexander roared, completely losing his legendary composure.
Evelyn flinched, gently placing the sleeping child on the velvet cushions before running out the door.
She fled down the grand marble staircase, her mind racing with confusion and absolute fear.
Why did her name cause the most powerful man in the city to panic?
She slipped into the servant's quarters to pack her small duffel bag.
Contract or no contract, she could not stay in this madhouse for another minute.
Just as she zipped up her bag, the heavy wooden door clicked shut, locking from the outside.
"Help!" Evelyn screamed, pounding her fists against the solid oak wood.
A cold voice echoed from a small speaker hidden in the ceiling above her.
"You should have stayed away, little rat," Eleanor Sterling sneered through the intercom.
"Let me out of here, please!" Evelyn begged, tears streaming down her face.
"My son might be fooled by your innocent act, but I remember exactly who you are," Eleanor threatened.
Evelyn backed away from the door, clutching her chest in terror.
"I made sure you lost your baby five years ago, Evelyn," the matriarch confessed cruelly.
"And I have no problem getting rid of you permanently this time."
Suddenly, the lights in the tiny room flickered and completely died, plunging her into pitch darkness.
Evelyn scrambled backward until her hand brushed against a loose floorboard under the bed.
She pried the wood up with bleeding fingernails, desperate for a weapon or a tool.
Instead, her fingers wrapped around a small, dusty metal lockbox hidden in the dirt.
She smashed the rusty lock against the steel bedframe until it finally cracked open.
Inside the box was a faded hospital bracelet with her own name printed on it.
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But right beneath her name was another line of text that made her heart stop beating entirely.
The bracelet read: "Mother of Noah Vance Sterling, Blood Type O-Negative."
