Part 3: The Man Who Wanted Lucas Hidden
The phone call lasted only twenty-three seconds.
But those twenty-three seconds changed everything.
Because for the first time, Alexander Vale looked truly afraid.
Not angry.
Not arrogant.
Afraid.
Detective Harris noticed it immediately.
"You know who that was."
Alexander said nothing.
"Mr. Vale."
Still nothing.
The detective leaned forward.
"You have spent the last hour claiming you were protecting the child."
He pointed toward Lucas.
"But now someone is threatening you because the truth came out."
"Who is he?"
Alexander looked through the glass window.
His eyes landed on Maria.
She was sitting with Lucas asleep against her chest.
A mother.
A woman he had publicly humiliated.
A woman he had called crazy.
And suddenly, Alexander understood something.
She had been searching for answers.
While he had spent two years running from them.
"His name is Victor Kane."
The room went silent.
Detective Harris immediately wrote it down.
"Who is Victor Kane?"
Alexander swallowed.
"The man who made the adoption happen."
Maria stood up outside the room.
She heard his words.
"The man who took my son?"
Alexander looked at her.
"I didn't know."
She laughed bitterly.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"No."
His answer surprised everyone.
"No, I don't."
Alexander lowered his head.
"Because I made a mistake."
The detective raised an eyebrow.
"What mistake?"
"I thought I could control him."
Two years earlier...
Alexander's life looked perfect.
A successful company.
A beautiful home.
A respected name.
But behind the image was a secret.
Debt.
Not ordinary debt.
Millions.
He had made bad investments.
Hidden losses.
And when his company started collapsing...
He found Victor Kane.
Victor wasn't a normal businessman.
He specialized in making problems disappear.
Need a debt erased?
Need a competitor ruined?
Need documents changed?
Victor knew people.
Dangerous people.
Alexander believed he was making a deal.
He thought Victor would solve his financial problems.
Instead...
Victor found out everything about him.
Including one thing Alexander wanted hidden forever.
The DNA test.
Lucas wasn't Alexander's biological child.
And Victor discovered something else.
Maria's ex-boyfriend.
Lucas's real father.
A man named...
Nathan Reed.
Maria froze.
Nathan.
She hadn't heard that name in years.
Because Nathan disappeared before Lucas was born.
Everyone thought he abandoned her.
Even Maria believed it.
But Alexander continued.
"Nathan didn't leave."
Maria stared at him.
"What?"
"He was forced to disappear."
"By Victor."
The room became silent.
Detective Harris looked confused.
"Why?"
Alexander looked toward Lucas.
"Because Nathan knew too much."
Nathan Reed had worked for Victor's company.
He discovered illegal financial operations.
Money laundering.
Fraud.
Blackmail.
He planned to expose Victor.
But before he could...
He vanished.
"And you knew?"
Maria asked.
Alexander looked ashamed.
"Not at first."
"When Victor came to me..."
"He showed me documents."
"He said Nathan was dangerous."
"He told me Lucas was better off away from you."
Maria's eyes filled with tears.
"So you believed him."
Alexander didn't answer.
Because he had.
Elena stepped forward.
"That's not the whole truth."
Everyone turned.
She looked at Alexander.
"You knew."
"You knew Victor was lying."
Alexander closed his eyes.
Elena continued.
"Alexander found out Nathan was innocent."
"But by then..."
"He was already trapped."
Detective Harris frowned.
"Trapped how?"
Elena looked at Alexander.
"Victor threatened him."
"He threatened his company."
"His family."
"And then..."
She looked at Maria.
"He threatened Lucas."
Maria held her son tighter.
Her voice shook.
"What happened the day he disappeared?"
Elena closed her eyes.
"I was there."
The room froze.
Maria looked at her sister.
"You were there?"
Elena cried.
"Yes."
"I saw Victor take Lucas."
"I tried to stop him."
"But I was scared."
Two years earlier...
Elena had discovered the truth.
She found out Alexander wasn't Lucas's father.
She found out Victor had arranged everything.
She confronted him.
But Victor gave her a choice.
Stay silent.
Or lose everyone.
"I thought I could fix it later."
Elena whispered.
"I thought I could get Lucas back."
Maria's voice broke.
"But you lied to me."
Elena nodded.
"I know."
Then Detective Harris's phone rang.
The trace team.
He answered quickly.
"What did you find?"
A pause.
Then his expression changed.
"Are you sure?"
Everyone watched him.
Finally he hung up.
"We traced the call."
Maria stepped forward.
"Victor?"
Detective Harris looked at her.
"No."
A cold feeling filled the room.
"That number belongs to..."
He looked at Alexander.
"...Nathan Reed."
Maria's heart stopped.
Impossible.
Nathan was gone.
Missing.
Dead, maybe.
But not alive.
Detective Harris continued:
"We found the location."
"He is in the city."
"And he wants to meet."
A man who had disappeared before Lucas was born...
The father everyone thought abandoned them...
Was alive.
And he was coming back.
But the question nobody could answer was:
May you like
Why had Nathan hidden for two years?
And why did he wait until the exact moment Maria found Lucas to return?
