CHAPTER 3: WHAT WAS ERASED
Logan demanded answers the next morning.
Hospital records.
Nannies.
Security logs.
Everything.
But what he found made no sense.
Three years ago, there had been a temporary caregiver assigned during a corporate crisis trip.
Name redacted.
Records sealed under private family request.
Authorization signature:
Vanessa Mercer.
Logan turned slowly toward her when he read it.
“You removed her.”
Vanessa didn’t deny it.
She adjusted her bracelet instead.
“She was unstable,” she said calmly. “And the boy was already developing anxiety. I protected him.”
Marina stood at the doorway now, pale.
“I never abandoned him,” she said quietly.
Her voice shook—but only slightly.
“I was forced out.”
Noah, sitting on the stairs, listened without blinking.
Then he did something he had never done before.
He walked to Marina.
And held her hand.
Not tightly.
May you like
Not desperately.
Just… like he had finally found the correct answer to a question no one else had solved.
