Chapter 2: The Burner Phone And The Blood Test
The morning after the grand ballroom incident, Carter Manor did not feel like a home.
It felt like a fortress.
Dozens of private security guards surrounded the estate.
News vans were parked bumper-to-bumper outside the massive iron gates.
The world had seen the video.
A bleeding child. A screaming mother. A wealthy aunt arrested in her designer gown.
Inside the mansion, Victoria sat by the edge of a massive velvet bed.
She hadn’t slept a single second.
She just watched him breathe.
Lucas was fast asleep, his small hand still tightly gripping the edge of her sleeve.
His shoulder had been stitched by the family’s private doctor.
Every time he shifted in his sleep, he whimpered, and Victoria’s heart broke all over again.
Downstairs, the family patriarch, William Carter, was pacing the grand library.
The police had just called.
Sophia Hart was in custody, refusing to speak.
But she had made one phone call.
Not to her lawyer.
Not to her husband.
She had called an unregistered burner phone that pinged off a cell tower fifty miles away.
William slammed his fist onto the mahogany desk.
“She wasn’t working alone,” he growled, staring at the lead detective.
“If Sophia paid people to take him five years ago... those people are still out there. And Lucas escaped them.”
The detective nodded grimly. “Which means they might come looking for him, Mr. Carter. To silence the only witness.”
Upstairs, Lucas suddenly gasped and shot up in bed.
His eyes were wide with pure terror.
“No! Don’t put me back in the dark!” he screamed, kicking the blankets away.
Victoria grabbed him, pulling his trembling body into her chest.
“You’re safe! I’m here, baby. I’m here!” she cried.
Lucas hyperventilated, looking around the luxurious room as if it were a cage.
Then, he looked into his mother’s eyes.
“Mom... the man with the scar. He said if I ever ran away, he would burn this house down.”
Victoria felt the blood drain from her face.
Before she could speak, the bedroom door burst open.
It was Richard. Sophia’s husband. Victoria’s brother.
His eyes were wild, his tie undone.
“Victoria, you have to listen to me,” Richard pleaded, stepping into the room.
“Sophia is crazy, but this boy... how do we know it’s really Lucas? It’s been five years! What if this is a setup to steal the company?”
Victoria stood up, her eyes blazing with absolute fury.
“Get out of my room,” she whispered with lethal venom.
“I need a DNA test!” Richard demanded, raising his voice.
Lucas flinched, hiding behind Victoria.
“If you ever raise your voice at my son again,” Victoria said, stepping toward her brother, “I will destroy you before the police even get the chance.”
But as Richard stormed out, Victoria felt a chill run down her spine.
Sophia had called a burner phone.
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Richard was desperately trying to cast doubt on Lucas.
The nightmare wasn’t over. It was just beginning.
