CHAPTER 4: SECRETS AND SURVEILLANCE
737 Words
Ava's flight landed at six in the morning. By seven, she was walking through the doors of St. Catherine's Children's Hospital in Geneva, her heart in her throat.
Nina met her in the hallway outside the pediatric wing, dark circles under her eyes.
"He's sleeping," Nina said immediately. "The fever broke around three AM. Dr. Chen says he's stable."
Ava sagged against the wall in relief. "Can I see him?"
"Of course."
They walked quietly down the corridor. Nina glanced at her friend's face and frowned.
"What happened to your cheek?"
"Chloe happened."
"She hit you?"
"She's scared. Scared people do desperate things."
Ava pushed open the door to room 304. The sight of her son always made her chest tight. Noah lay in the hospital bed looking impossibly small, his dark hair messy against the pillow, an IV in his tiny arm.
He had Ethan's features. The same sharp jawline. The same long lashes. The same serious expression even in sleep.
Ava sank into the chair beside his bed and took his small hand carefully.
"Hey, baby," she whispered. "Mama's here."
Noah's eyes fluttered open. When he saw her, he smiled weakly. "You came back."
"I'll always come back. How are you feeling?"
"Tired. The medicine makes me sleepy." His eyes were already drifting closed. "Did you find him?"
Ava's throat tightened. "Find who, sweetheart?"
"My daddy. You said you were going to find him."
"I found him," Ava said softly. "I'm working on the rest. But you have to keep getting better, okay?"
"Okay, Mama." Noah's eyes closed completely. Within seconds, he was asleep.
Ava sat holding his hand until Nina touched her shoulder.
"You need coffee. And to tell me everything."
They moved to the hospital cafeteria. Over terrible coffee, Ava recounted the gala. Seeing Ethan. The confrontation with Chloe. The moment on the balcony when she'd almost told him everything.
"You have to tell him soon," Nina said. "Noah needs that transplant within four months."
"I know. But if I tell Ethan before I have legal protection, he could take my son away. In a custody battle, I'd lose."
"Or you could trust him."
"Trust got me exiled and heartbroken. I'm done trusting."
Nina sighed. "When do you fly back?"
"Tomorrow morning. I start at Blackwood Industries on Monday."
---
Meanwhile, in his penthouse office, Ethan sat reading the preliminary report his security team had compiled on Ava Monroe.
She'd been living in Geneva for the past four years. Before that, Paris for a year. She ran a successful boutique design firm called Atelier Noir. Her client list was impressive. Her finances were healthy.
She lived alone in a modest apartment.
No mention of a boyfriend. No mention of a child.
But the medical bills caught his attention. Substantial payments to St. Catherine's Children's Hospital over three years. His investigator couldn't access patient records due to privacy laws.
Ethan stared at that line.
Noah. The name Ava had said on the phone. The fever. The urgency.
A sick child. Medical bills. Her desperate need for a job despite running a successful company.
The pieces weren't fitting together yet, but Ethan could sense a pattern forming.
His phone buzzed. Chloe's name appeared.
Where are you? We're supposed to have brunch with the Vanderbilts.
Ethan deleted the message without responding.
He pulled up another screen and typed into the hospital database search: Noah Monroe.
Nothing.
He tried Noah Blackwood.
Nothing.
But when he searched just "Noah" with St. Catherine's Hospital, several results appeared. Patient records he couldn't open without authorization.
One was flagged for a rare genetic blood disorder.
The same disorder his father had died from.
Ethan's blood ran cold.
It couldn't be.
Could it?
He grabbed his phone and called his investigator.
"I need you to find out everything about a child named Noah. Four or five years old. Currently a patient at St. Catherine's in Geneva. Medical records, birth certificate, everything."
"Sir, those records are sealed. It could take—"
"I don't care what it takes. I need that information by Monday morning."
Ethan hung up and stared at the city skyline.
If Ava had his child and kept it secret for five years, there had to be a reason.
Either she'd moved on completely and the child belonged to someone else.
Or she'd been running from him.
He needed to know which.
His entire world might depend on the answer.
- Writer
