Chapter 2

Ethan didn' t wait.

He barked orders at his security. "Get the jet ready. We' re going to that damn town."

My Rust Belt town. The place I grew up, the place he' d systematically destroyed to isolate me.

Hours later, his sleek black SUV tore through the decaying streets of my childhood.

It stopped in front of the dilapidated house where I grew up, where my brother Mike still lived.

The paint was peeling, the porch sagged. A symbol of everything Ethan had crushed.

Ethan stormed out of the car, his expensive suit a stark contrast to the poverty around him.

He pounded on the door.

Mike opened it. My brother. Older, his face etched with hardship, his leg still bearing the damage from that "freak" construction accident years ago. An accident Ethan' s associates engineered to pressure me.

"Hayes," Mike' s voice was low, full of hate. "What do you want?"

"Where is she, Miller?" Ethan snarled, pushing past Mike into the dim hallway. "Where is Sarah?"

And then he saw her.

Eleanor.

Ethan' s biological mother.

She sat in our worn armchair, looking frail, her hair grey and thin, her eyes holding a deep sadness but also a quiet strength.

Sarah had found her in that same underfunded state facility, a forgotten soul. Sarah had helped her escape, brought her here, to the only safe place she knew.

Ethan didn't recognize her. His father had institutionalized Eleanor shortly after Ethan's birth, a family scandal hidden away. Ethan believed her dead.

"Who the hell is this old woman?" Ethan sneered. "Never mind. Tell me where Sarah is. She was discharged. With some man."

Eleanor rose slowly. "Sarah... Sarah is gone, Ethan."

Her voice was soft, but firm.

"She died. Three years ago." Mike stated, his fists clenched.

Ethan laughed, a harsh, ugly sound. "Died? Don't lie to me. She' s hiding. After I took care of her, she runs off with someone else? And now, when I need her for something, she' s conveniently 'dead'?"

His eyes fell on a small, makeshift memorial on the mantelpiece. A faded photo of me, a dried flower.

With a roar of fury, he swept it to the floor. The frame shattered.

"Stop it!" Eleanor cried out.

Mike moved to protect Eleanor.

Ethan shoved him. "You' re hiding her, aren' t you? Protecting her and her lover!"