Chapter 2

The drive to Northwestern was tense. Not for Leo, who was lost in his notes, but for me. Every red light, every turn, was a step back toward the nightmare.

I kept glancing at him. His sharp profile, the focused look in his eyes. He was my son. I had raised him from the moment he was placed in my arms, a tiny, helpless infant. Mark and I couldn't have children, and the private adoption he arranged was a miracle.

Or so I thought.

"You seem quiet, Mom. Still worried about that dream?" Leo asked, not looking up from a blueprint in his portfolio.

"Just want this to go perfectly for you," I said, the words tasting like ash.

We pulled up to the admissions building. Just like before, Mark' s car was already there. And leaning against it, smiling, was Chloe.

"Surprise!" she called out, waving. "I couldn't miss wishing my godson good luck!"

She was dressed impeccably in a designer suit, her charisma a weapon. She hugged Leo tightly, her eyes flicking to me over his shoulder.

"You look stressed, Sarah. You need to relax. He's got this."

Mark joined the performance, clapping Leo on the back. "Go get 'em, son! We're so proud of you."

It was all the same. The same false smiles, the same staged encouragement. A perfect family tableau for the public.

Then I saw it.

Pinned to Leo' s tie was a small, silver pin shaped like an owl. It wasn' t there when we left the house.

"What's this?" I asked, my voice sharp.

Chloe' s smile widened. "Oh, just a little good luck charm. For wisdom. I gave it to him just now."

I looked closer. The owl' s eyes were too dark, too glassy. A micro-camera. It had to be. In my past life, they must have used it to record the "plagiarism" accusation, making it seem irrefutable.

My blood ran cold. The trap was already in motion.

Leo checked his watch. "Okay, I gotta go. Wish me luck."

He hugged me, and I held on for a second too long, breathing in the scent of his shampoo. "I love you, Leo. No matter what."

He looked at me, a little confused by my intensity. "Love you too, Mom."

Then he was gone, walking into the building that had been the site of his death.

Mark put his arm around me. "Let's go grab a coffee. The waiting is the worst part."

I pulled away from his touch. "You two go ahead. I need some air."

I watched them walk off, their heads close together, already plotting. I walked to a nearby campus café, my mind racing, connecting the dots that had been invisible before.

The doctored video. The scratches. The immediate, coordinated accusations. The adoption papers, handled by a law firm Mark just happened to know.

I sat down at a small table, my hands shaking. I pulled out my phone and called my personal assistant, Jane. She was efficient, loyal, and owed me for getting her son into a top private school.

"Jane, I need you to do something for me. No questions asked, and with absolute discretion."

"Of course, Sarah. What is it?"

"I need a full background check on an adoption agency and a lawyer. I'm sending you the names now. Dig deep. I also need a rush DNA test."

I paused, my voice dropping. "I need you to go to my house. There's a hairbrush on Leo' s dresser. Take a hair from it. Get one of my hairs from my brush in the master bath. And in my car, in the cup holder, there' s a bottle of water Chloe just left. I need you to get them all to a private lab. I want a maternity test between me and Leo, and another between Chloe and Leo."

There was a silence on the other end.

"Sarah... are you sure?"

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life," I said, my voice hard as steel. "And Jane? I need the results in ninety minutes."