Chapter 1
Minutes before I was supposed to marry the woman my family chose for me, a barefoot little boy in torn clothes ran into the church screaming, “Dad, please save Mom!”
I froze at the altar.
The church in Atlanta was already full.
My fiancée, Vanessa, turned toward the doors with a terrified look on her face.
The little boy couldn’t have been older than seven.
His knees were scraped, his shirt was ripped, and he was crying so hard he could barely breathe.
He pointed straight at me.
“Dad!”
People began whispering.
My mother, Evelyn, stood up so fast her chair fell backward.
“Ignore him,” she snapped.
But the boy ran toward me.
“Please, Dad. Mom needs you.”
My heart started pounding.
I had never seen this child in my life.
I stepped off the altar.
“What’s your name?”
“Ethan.”
Before I could ask another question, my mother rushed between us.
“You filthy little liar!”
She slapped him across the face.
Ethan fell onto the floor.
The entire church gasped.
“Mom!”
I shoved past her and dropped beside him.
He covered his cheek and started sobbing.
Evelyn pointed at the doors.
“Get him out before he ruins everything.”
I stared at her.
“Why are you so afraid of a child?”
“I’m protecting your wedding.”
Ethan grabbed my sleeve.
“Dad, she knows who I am.”
My mother’s face went pale.
Vanessa suddenly whispered, “Michael, don’t listen to him.”
I looked from my fiancée to my mother.
Neither woman would meet my eyes.
Ethan reached into his pocket and pulled out an old photograph.
My hands started shaking when I saw it.
The picture showed me eight years earlier.
I was standing beside a woman I had been told died before I ever got the chance to find her.
Ethan pointed to her.
“That’s my mom.”
Then he pointed to me.
“And she said you’re my dad.”
I could barely speak.
“Where is she?”
The boy’s face collapsed.
“Grandma locked her somewhere because she tried to stop your wedding.”
My mother lunged for the photograph.
I pulled Ethan behind me.
May you like
Then he whispered the words that made Vanessa drop her bouquet.
“Mom told me your bride helped Grandma do it.”
