“What’s your name?” Nathan asked, trying to control the shake in his voice.
“Aiden, sir.”
“And what do you want in return for… continuing this story, Aiden?”
The boy’s gaze dropped to his own stomach right as it growled loudly, answering for him.
“Just… a plate of food, sir,” Aiden said. “Let me eat, and I’ll take you to where I saw her.”
The words hit Nathan like a verdict. He looked at the boy: thin as a shadow, hands filthy, but eyes clear—too clear to be faking something like this.
Something inside Nathan broke… or maybe, for the first time in two years, it started to mend.
Somewhere nearby, the past was beginning to stir. And with it, a truth that would flip his life upside down.
The housekeeper brought in a plate overflowing with food. Aiden sat on the floor, ignoring the expensive rug, and ate with a desperate urgency that was hard to watch. Nathan watched him in silence, feeling a strange mix of tenderness and fear.
“Tell me exactly where you saw her,” Nathan finally said.
Aiden wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Near the old bridge, sir. Beside that abandoned factory nobody goes to anymore. She was with a big black dog. I brought her water from a fountain, but she just kept saying she was hungry and that I had to come find you. She told me to tell you that… that the dog was still with her.”
Nathan’s blood ran cold.
Ranger.
No one outside the family knew the dog’s name. Ranger had vanished the same day as Lauren’s accident. The police figured he’d gone over the cliff with the car. They never found him. Just like they never found Lauren’s body.
“Bring the car around,” Nathan ordered one of the guards without taking his eyes off the boy. “And get him something warm to wear.”
Aiden stared up at him, surprised.
“So… you believe me?”
Nathan didn’t know what to say. Not completely. Not yet. But even the smallest chance that Lauren might be alive tore his chest wide open.
“I believe you enough to verify it,” he said at last. “And if you’re lying, kid, you picked the wrong man to lie to.”
Aiden swallowed, but his gaze didn’t waver.
Minutes later, a black sedan rolled quickly through the cobblestone streets of the city. Nathan drove, eyes fixed on the road. Aiden sat in the passenger seat, clutching his old cap in both hands.
“Do you lie often, Aiden?” Nathan asked, still looking forward.