Chapter 3 - The Bloodline
Danielle did not wait for the local authorities, instead having her private security team drag the captured teenager off the plane an hour later.
Ethan had been found shivering near the landing gear, covered in grease and refusing to answer any of Marcus's brutal interrogations.
They transported him in a heavily armored SUV to Danielle's secure London estate, a sprawling fortress hidden behind high stone walls.
Once inside the sterile, stainless-steel medical bay of the mansion, Danielle ordered her private physician to draw the boy's blood.
Ethan sat rigidly on the examination table, his eyes darting around the room like a trapped animal looking for an escape route.
"You mentioned your mother died," Danielle said softly, trying a different tactic to break through the teenager's defensive walls.
"The woman who raised me died in a car crash last month," Ethan replied bitterly, staring directly into Danielle's soul.
Danielle felt a sharp pain in her chest, realizing this boy had spent his entire life believing a stranger was his real mother.
The physician stepped back into the room, holding a digital tablet that displayed the results of the rapid DNA sequence comparison.
"Ma'am, it is a ninety-nine point nine percent match," the doctor confirmed, his voice shaking with the weight of the revelation.
Tears finally spilled over Danielle's eyelashes as she took a hesitant step toward the son she had mourned for over a decade.
Before she could even reach out to touch his shoulder, the heavy steel doors of the medical bay violently locked shut.
The digital security panels on the walls flashed crimson red, indicating a total lockdown of the entire underground facility.
Danielle turned around in confusion, expecting Marcus to explain why the security protocols had suddenly been activated.
Instead, her trusted head of security raised his suppressed pistol and aimed it directly at Danielle's heart.
May you like
"I am so sorry, Miss Whitaker," Marcus said, his face devoid of any emotion.
"Your ex-husband paid me a fortune to ensure this boy stayed dead, and I always finish my contracts."
