Sothing in Ethan’s face hardened then, as if a wall had cracked under pressure. His eyes reddened, bloodshot not from pain but from emotions finally catching up to him.
Axel noticed but didn’t stop. "She and my wife already planned to celebrate your birthday at our house. That was before they even knew I had found you."
Ethan let out a shaky breath, half a laugh, and half sothing dangerously close to breaking. "So... I’ve been invited to my own birthday without knowing it?"
"Apparently," Axel said lightly, trying to lighten the heaviness in the room. "You’re very popular, Noah Henry Davis. Ugh, it sounds weird to call you that. For now, I’ll call you Ethan..."
That earned a quiet chuckle from Ethan, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes.
Axel handed the iPad to him. "This is your family."
Ethan hesitated before taking it. The screen lit up, revealing photos, docunts, and nas. His parents. His childhood. Faces he didn’t rember but sohow recognized all the sa.
He scrolled slowly, his silence heavier than words.
Axel observed him intensely before speaking again. His voice was calm, but there was an unmistakable weight behind it. "Do you want to et your mother now?"
Ethan finally looked up. The conflict in his eyes was unmistakable, but so was the spark of sothing new, fragile yet undeniable.
"I want to," Ethan said honestly.
Then he glanced down at himself, his fingers brushing lightly over the bandage on his chest and the brace supporting his arm.
"But not like this." He gestured to his injuries with a faint, self-deprecating smile. "I don’t want her first impression of to be... broken."
Axel nodded slowly, understanding imdiately.
A faint smile crossed Axel’s lips as a mory surfaced, unexpected but vivid. "That’s almost exactly what I told my wife last night," he added, his tone softening. "When she asks whether you can et your mother soon."
Axel let out a quiet breath that almost resembled a chuckle, then continued, "Well, I agree with you, Ethan. Your mother has waited too long, hoped too hard. Seeing you injured like this would only hurt her more. I won’t let that happen."
Ethan gave a small laugh, but the sound cut short when pain flared sharply in his chest. He sucked in a breath, his jaw tightening as he rode it out.
Axel’s gaze sharpened. "Careful."
"I forgot my body hasn’t forgiven yet," Ethan muttered, inhaling slowly until the pain subsided.
Axel continued, his tone firm. "But you need to recover fast. I told Evelyn that you can et your mother before your birthday."
Ethan blinked. "When is that?"
"December thirty-first. Less than three weeks away."
The room fell quiet. Only the steady hum of dical equipnt filled the space, rhythmic and impersonal.
’December thirty-first.’ The date echoed in Ethan’s mind, strange and heavy. A birthday he had only learned about now. A day that was supposed to belong to him, yet felt like it belonged to soone else entirely. Soone he no longer rembered.
He lowered his gaze to the iPad resting on his lap, filled with files, photos, and nas. His family. His past. No matter how many tis he stared at the images, nothing surfaced. No warmth. No recognition. Just an aching emptiness where mories should have been.
"I’ll try," he said quietly. "I’ll heal as fast as I can."
Axel nodded once, satisfied with the answer.
"And," Axel added after a mont, as casually as if discussing the weather, "my wife will co to visit you."
Ethan’s head snapped up. "She will?"
Axel arched an eyebrow, amused by the reaction. "Why do you look so shocked? Are you afraid of her?"
Ethan let out a short laugh. "I’m not afraid," he said, regaining his composure. "Just... nervous. You said she’s close to my mother. eting her feels like eting a family I didn’t know I still had."
Axel crossed his arms over his chest, his expression serious again.
"That’s because she is family. Evelyn and I already consider your mother our own. So naturally, that makes you ours too." He held Ethan’s gaze steadily. "We are family."
The word settled heavily between them.
Ethan stared at Axel for a long mont before nodding slowly. A genuine smile finally curved his lips. "Yeah," he said softly. "Family."
For a brief mont, the tension eased.
Then Axel’s expression hardened, the warmth fading as sothing darker surfaced in his eyes. "Alright. Enough of the sentintal talk."
Ethan straightened slightly. He knew that look.
"Who sent rcenaries to kill you?" Axel asked flatly. "When you fought back... what did you see?"
"There were two teams," Ethan said without hesitation. "Completely different." He lifted a finger slightly, counting. "The first were local gangsters. Sloppy. Predictable. The second—" He paused, his eyes darkening. "Elite. Disciplined. rcenaries. So of them weren’t locals."
Axel frowned. "Two teams?"
"Yes." Tension flickered across Ethan’s face. "They weren’t working together. It was as if their objectives overlapped by coincidence... or by design."
Axel fell silent, his mind already racing. "Do you think they’re connected to your past?"
Ethan’s jaw clenched. mories—not of faces or nas, but of violence, orders, and blood—pressed against the edge of his mind. The rcenary group he once belonged to. The life he had fought so hard to leave behind. The day he t Axel, the day he decided to walk away.
If they had found him...
"It’s possible," Ethan admitted. "That’s why I asked Collins to investigate. If they tracked down, then anyone around could be at risk."
Axel’s expression darkened. "He hasn’t contacted yet either. Is he having trouble finding the clue?"
"That’s what worries ," Ethan said quietly. "We can’t stay in the dark. If those people find out I’m alive, they won’t stop. They’ll strike again."
"And next ti," Axel said, his voice low, "they won’t co unprepared."
Ethan nodded grimly. "They already know as Ethan Wright. If they dig deeper, the company—"
"I’ll handle the Wright Group," Axel cut in firmly. "For now."
Ethan looked at him sharply. "Axel, what if your identity as the real owner is exposed? That puts you in danger, too."
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