I had lived next door to Mary for three years, helping her carry groceries and watching Lauren when Mary worked double shifts at the diner.

I knew how hard she had struggled, how many nights she had cried behind her locked door.

“She told me she tried to find the father,” I said quietly.

“She said his family was too powerful, that they built a wall around him.”

Ethan flinched as if I had struck him.

“She filed a paternity claim against my family’s corporate trust,” he said.

“It was a legal back door to get my attention because she couldn’t get past my personal security.”

“And?” I asked, leaning forward.

“Someone rejected it,” Ethan said.

“Someone inside my own firm signed a formal denial, claiming the trust had no relation to her.”

“They sealed the court record so it would never go to a public hearing.”

I stared at him, the anger rising in my chest.

“Who would do that, Ethan?”

“Who had the power to make a pregnant woman disappear from your life?”

Ethan looked toward the glass doors leading to the main lobby.