Chapter 2: The Secret in the Photograph
Ethan stood frozen on the sidewalk.
The black sedan moved slowly toward them.
Not fast.
Not aggressively.
Almost casually.
That somehow made it worse.
The woman released his arm and stepped behind the bus stop shelter.
“Go home,” she whispered.
Ethan stared at her.
“What?””
“Go home right now.””
“You know my dad?””
The woman looked at him with a sadness Ethan couldn’t understand.
“I knew him before you did.””
The car got closer.
Ethan’s thoughts crashed into each other.
His father had told him his mother died when he was a baby.
Everyone had told him.
There were pictures of his mother around the house. A framed wedding photo in the hallway. A small box in his closet filled with things Daniel said belonged to her.
A necklace.
A birthday card.
A hospital bracelet.
Proof of a woman who was gone.
But now a stranger with his name tattooed on her wrist was saying something impossible.
His father lied.
The sedan stopped at the curb.
Ethan turned toward it.
The driver’s window lowered.
Daniel Parker looked out.
“Ethan?””
The sound of his father’s voice should have made him feel safe.
Instead, it made his chest tighten.
“What are you doing here?”” Daniel asked.
Ethan looked from his father to the bus stop.
The woman was gone.
Completely gone.
Only a small tear in the photograph sleeve remained where her shaking fingers had held it.
Daniel opened the car door.
“Get in.””
Ethan didn’t move.
“Dad…”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“What?””
Ethan held up the photograph.
For one second, just one second, his father’s face lost all color.
Then it returned.
A little too quickly.
“Where did you get that?””
Ethan noticed.
He noticed the fear.
Not surprise.
Not confusion.
Fear.
“A woman gave it to me.””
Daniel stepped out of the car.
“What woman?””
“The woman outside my school.””
His father looked toward the empty sidewalk.
His jaw tightened.
“Ethan, get in the car.””
“Who is she?””
Daniel’s voice became sharper.
“I said get in the car.””
Ethan had heard his father angry before.
Usually at broken appliances or traffic.
Never at him.
Never like this.
He slowly got into the passenger seat.
The drive home was silent.
No music.
No conversation.
Only the sound of the windshield wipers dragging across the glass.
When they arrived, Daniel locked the front door behind them.
That was the second thing that scared Ethan.
Their front door had never been locked during the day.
“Sit down,” Daniel said.
Ethan stayed standing.
“Tell me the truth.””
Daniel looked at him.
“What?””
“Is my mom really dead?””
The question hung between them.
Daniel looked away.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he walked to the kitchen counter and placed both hands on it.
“Ethan…”
His voice was quieter now.
“There are things you don’t understand.””
“Then explain them.””
“I was trying to protect you.””
“From who?””
Daniel didn’t answer.
Ethan felt anger replacing fear.
“You always say Mom died when I was a baby.””
“She did.””
“Then why does that woman have a picture of you and her?””
Daniel’s head snapped up.
“She has what?””
Ethan showed him the photograph again.
His father took one step forward.
Then stopped.
Like touching it would burn him.
“Where is she now?””
“I don’t know.””
“Did she tell you anything else?””
Ethan narrowed his eyes.
“You’re not answering me.””
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
For the first time in Ethan’s life, his father looked lost.
Not tired.
Not stressed.
Lost.
“Ethan, you need to promise me something.””
“What?””
“If that woman comes back, you do not talk to her.””
Ethan stared.
“Why?””
“Because she is not who you think she is.””
“Then who is she?””
Daniel opened his mouth.
The answer seemed ready.
But something stopped him.
Instead, he said:
“She is someone who destroyed our family.””
That night, Ethan couldn’t sleep.
The photograph sat on his desk beneath his lamp.
He stared at the words written on the back again and again.
If anything happens to me, tell Ethan his father lied.
At 2:13 in the morning, his phone buzzed.
Ethan grabbed it.
Unknown number.
One message.
I know your father talked to you.
His hands went cold.
Another message appeared.
Then another.
I’m sorry I disappeared.
I was trying to keep you alive.
Ethan stopped breathing for a moment.
A final message appeared.
And this one made his heart race.
Your father is not the man who raised you.
Then came an image.
A hospital document.
A birth certificate.
And at the bottom of the page was a name Ethan had never seen before.
May you like
The name listed as his mother’s emergency contact.
The name that made him realize the woman outside his school wasn’t the only person who had been hiding the truth.
