“That boy actually lives with me,” she told the millionaire. Her next words changed everything he thought he knew
Silence was the only answer. Seconds later, another male voice, deep, threatening, boomed in the house. «There’s someone here.»
The air seemed to vanish. Henry looked around desperately, trying to think fast. Amelia tugged his arm, trembling.
«It’s the man who always comes to see Mom,» she whispered. Henry understood immediately. That was the accomplice.
The bedroom door burst open, and Claire appeared with blazing eyes. «What do you think you’re doing here?» she shouted, her voice a mix of fury and desperation.
Amelia stepped forward. «Mom, what’s going on? Why did that man come? And why was his name in your notebook?»
The silence became immediate. Claire took a deep breath, her gaze wavering between her daughter and Henry. «You wanna know? Then you’ll hear it all.»
Her voice came out firm, loaded with something between guilt and cynicism. «I work with people who take kids. Sometimes we sell them. Other times we ask for money for them. But I couldn’t hand over Lucas.»
The air turned dense. Henry paled, and Amelia brought her hands to her mouth, unable to believe what she heard. «Mom, are you lying?» the girl stammered with a broken voice.
Claire shook her head slowly. «No, daughter, it’s the truth. He was just one more, another case. But when I saw him so small, so lost, I couldn’t do it. I brought him home. He became part of us.»
Henry stepped forward, dominated by horror and rage. «You kidnapped him. You destroyed my life.»
Claire looked at him with teary but cold eyes. «And you? What do you know about losing? You have everything. And still you lost him because you trusted too much.»
Amelia cried uncontrollably. «Mom, why did you do that? Why with him?»
The woman approached, trying to touch her daughter’s face, but Amelia backed away. «Because I had no other choice,» Claire murmured. «The people I work with don’t forgive. And when he showed up, I saw a chance to start over. To have a real family.»
Henry shouted, his voice breaking the silence. «You call that love? You stole a child and now try to justify it with feelings.»
Claire closed her eyes, her voice trembling. «I love that boy more than anything. And yet I know love doesn’t erase what I did.»
The man behind her stepped forward impatiently. «Enough drama. Let’s end this.»
Amelia grabbed her mother’s arm desperately. «Don’t let him hurt us, please.»
Claire took a deep breath. Her face tense. Her gaze lost between her daughter and the accomplice. «There’s no turning back now, my love,» she said quietly.
Henry, with Lucas in his arms, trembled between rage and compassion. «You could have asked for help. You could have told the truth,» he said with a choked voice.
Claire looked away, murmuring, «The truth never saved me from anything. Henry, it only condemned me.»
The silence that followed seemed to scream. Amelia, full of horror, stepped back, feeling her legs give way. Claire cried now, but there was no innocence in her tears.
«I just wanted a son,» she whispered. «I just wanted to love someone who wouldn’t leave me.»
Henry looked at her with deep sadness. «And for that, you destroyed families.»
Her gaze hardened again, an armor of guilt and desperation. «Don’t try to understand what I did.»
Claire’s scream broke the heavy air of the house. «Get out now!» She pushed Amelia and Lucas forcefully. Her voice trembling, eyes overflowing with desperation. «You don’t want to see this.»
The children stumbled in the hallway without understanding, crying, while their mother slammed the door shut and barred it from inside. On the other side, the sound of quick footsteps and moving furniture filled the air with panic.
Amelia clung to her heart brother, her face covered in tears. «Lucas, what is she going to do?»
He, pale, squeezed her hands. «We have to help dad.»
The girl’s breathing cut between sobs. «But what if it’s too late?»
Inside the room, Henry tried to keep his voice firm. «Claire, please, listen to me. It doesn’t have to end like this.»
The woman trembled, tears falling uncontrollably, but the man beside her, the accomplice, wasn’t listening anymore. «Enough words,» he growled, pulling a knife from his pocket and pointing it at the millionaire’s chest. «You’ve had too much luck so far.»
Henry stepped back, his gaze fixed on the blade gleaming under the dim light. «Think it through. This won’t erase what you did.» He tried to reason, but the man just smiled cruelly.
«It’ll help me sleep better tonight.»
He advanced quickly like a predator. The sound of the fight spread through the whole house. Henry tried to dodge, pushed a chair, but was grazed on the arm. «Claire, help me!» he shouted, his voice cutting the air.
She backed away with eyes full of terror, unable to move. Blood began to drip down his shirt sleeve.
«You shouldn’t have come back!» the attacker shouted, trying to reach him again.
Outside, Amelia heard the noise and jumped up. «We can’t let them kill him, Lucas.» The boy breathed fast, his body shaking.
«And if he hurts us?»
She looked at him firmly. Eyes full of tears, but loaded with courage. «I’m not going to let that happen.»
Without thinking, Amelia shouldered the door until it gave. «No!» Claire shouted, but it was too late. The children burst into the room.
The man, surprised, turned his head, and that second of distraction was all Henry needed. «Get out of here!» he shouted.
But Amelia ran toward the attacker, jumped on his back, and tried to wrench the knife from his hand. «Let go!» she screamed with all her strength. Lucas did the same, grabbing the man’s arm and biting his wrist.
The knife fell to the floor, sliding to Henry’s feet, who, bloodied, took the chance to stand and run to the window. In a desperate leap, he broke the glass and threw himself outside, rolling on the backyard ground. The impact sound echoed like an explosion in the night.
Claire screamed his name, running after him while the accomplice stumbled furiously, trying to free himself from the children. «I’m going to kill you both!» he roared.
But Amelia pushed him with all her might, making him crash into the wall. Claire pulled his arm. «Let’s go. The police might come.»
The two ran out the back door, panting, chasing the wounded millionaire who limped toward the gate. The moon lit the backyard like a farewell stage, and then sirens cut the air. The sound of patrol cars approached in waves, with red and blue lights reflecting on the house windows.
Henry fell to his knees in the middle of the yard, exhausted, while Claire and the accomplice stopped, blinded by the headlights. «Police, drop your weapons!» a firm voice shouted.
In seconds, armed men surrounded the place. The accomplice tried to run but was taken down with a blow. Claire stood still, arms up, face covered in tears.
Amelia and Lucas watched everything from the porch, hugged, trembling between fear and relief. Their hearts still beat like runaway drums. Claire looked at her daughter one last time, her face devastated.
«Amelia, forgive me.»
The girl cried, her chest heaving. «Mom, why? Why did you do all this?»
The woman didn’t answer, just lowered her head as the police handcuffed her. Henry, with his shoulder bloodied, approached slowly and put a hand on the girl’s head.
«It’s over,» he whispered, panting. «You saved our lives.»
The patrol lights reflected in Amelia’s tears as she watched them take her mother away. Her cry filled the air. A pure, broken sound mixing pain, relief, and the cruel certainty that nothing would be the same.
As the police took Claire and the accomplice away, Amelia stayed silent, staring into nothing. The night wind moved her hair, and the distant siren sound faded little by little. Henry knelt in front of her and Lucas, exhausted, hugging them both at once.
«You were the light in the darkness,» he said with a choked voice. «Without you, I never would have found my son.»
Amelia sobbed without strength to respond. That night, amid ruins and tears, the innocent love of two children had faced evil and defeated it.
