The nurse’s warning whispered in my ear still haunted me: “Ask your son what happened at 3:00 AM.” Moments later, I eavesdropped on his panicked phone call on the fire escape: “If the police find out, we’re ruined.” My hands shook as I unlocked his briefcase in his office. The horrific adoption contract inside changed everything…

his voice completely broken. “Elise had him at 1:00 AM. She was supposed to hand him over to the nurses. But she… she lost her husband, Mom. Three weeks ago. She was completely broken.”

He wiped his face roughly. “She called me from the stairwell. She said she couldn’t leave the hospital empty-handed. She said she just needed to take him home for one continue reading …