CHAPTER 1

“What is this?” Aaron Warren asked, looking at the blue file on the desk before him.

“It’s the divorce papers, Mr. Warren,” the woman standing behind the desk replied.

Aaron’s eyes widened in shock. Divorce papers? All of a sudden, he looked lost. His eyes went to the woman who was now leaning towards him with both hands on the desk. Her eyebrows furrowed, intersecting at the beginning of her nose. She wore a black suit which complimented her black hair. Her blue eyes stared at him piercing his soul. Aaron was familiar with her. She was Lilian’s lawyer, Isabel Montero. He was suspicious when she had called him to the office. It was something that had never happened before. The infuriated look on her face meant that she wasn’t joking. Aaron’s eyes fell on the blue file before him.

“Divorce papers?” He said out loud.

“Just sign them so we can get this over with,” Isabel said, folding her arms. “We don’t have all day.”

Aaron was still trying to digest this. His eyes were shaking as he stared at the blue file. He realized that he had seen this coming. After being fired two weeks ago by her Father, Lincoln, he had expected her to get rid of him too. And this was the only way she could.

Isabel Montero was staring at Aaron tapping her arm impatiently. Aaron seemed to be lost in his thoughts. That didn’t matter to her. She was ordered to get this done quickly. The only thing standing between her and a huge paycheck was Aaron.

“Mr. Warren,” Isabel called, reviving him from his thoughts.

Aaron blinked twice and looked at her. It was too soon for Lilian to let him go. There had to be something that propelled her to come to this conclusion swiftly. If there was one person who hated him more than anything, it was her father Lincoln. He had to be behind this. Perhaps he had convinced her to divorce him.

Aaron furrowed his eyebrows and folded his arms, leaning back on his chair. Isabel Montero cranked an eyebrow at him in confusion. It didn’t look like he was willing to go ahead with the divorce. People like Aaron had nothing left to lose, and so he was trying to clench onto something that wasn’t his anymore. Something he couldn’t have.

“I won’t sign these papers until I speak with my wife,” Aaron ordered.

Isabel scoffed at his words.

“Okay then,” she said and reached for the telephone on her desk. She dialed a number and held the receiver to her ear. Aaron watched her tentatively.

“Yes, he’s here… Yes, he wants to see you.”

Isabel placed the receiver away and placed her hands on the well-polished wooden desk. The door opened immediately and a woman stepped inside. Aaron turned around and watched Lilian walk into the room.

She stood behind the desk with Isabel now. Lilian looked gorgeous in her office suit. Her long black hair was pulled back early into a ponytail and her blue eyes glistened in the warm morning sun that bathed the office. She looked like Isabel’s sister. The only difference between them was Isabel’s strong Latina genes.

“Lilian,” Aaron called intending to rise from his chair.

He was stopped by a hand—Lilian’s. Confused, he sat back down.

“Sign the papers, Aaron,” she ordered.

Aaron looked at her flabbergasted. His mouth quivered as he searched for his next words.

“Lilian. You have to think this through,” Aaron begged.

“There’s nothing to think about anymore, Aaron,” she said. “My dad doesn’t want you around because he thinks you’re a loser.”

Aaron gulped hard. He was aware of that. The only thing he couldn’t comprehend was why she would choose to do this.

“And do you think I am?” Aaron asked, gazing at her.

Her blue eyes seemed to have frozen when they made contact with him. Her mind looked to be searching for the answer.

“Yes, Aaron,” she replied.

Aaron’s heart sank as he heard that. Lilian had confirmed it. Isabel, who had her arms folded, chuckled at Lilian’s words.

“Now sign the goddamn papers,” she said barely in a whisper.

Aaron clenched his jaws and reached for the blue file. This was what she wanted. His worst nightmare had come alive. Lilian didn’t want him around anymore. He had no other place to go. Isabel reached into her breast pocket and pulled out a ballpoint pen, handing it to Aaron.

Aaron took the pen and opened the blue file with trembling hands. He ran through the words confirming it. His eyes went to the foot of the document and he saw Lilian’s signature already registered. His eyes went up to her in shock but she only looked away.

The realization that he wasn’t needed anymore made his heart shatter. He placed the pen on the dotted line and inhaled deeply. Then, he signed the papers and closed the file, throwing it back on the desk. Aaron rose to his feet immediately. He could feel a searing pain in his chest. His eyes went to Lilian’s once more and they looked cold. All of a sudden, he didn’t recognize his wife anymore. Well, she wasn’t his anymore.

“Goodbye, Aaron,” Lilian said coldly.

Aaron nodded clenching his jaws and headed out of the office.

***

“I found him, Mrs. Lacroix!” A man said as he stepped into a room in the hospital.

In the gloomy room was a woman lying on the bed. The man with dirty blonde hair who looked in his early forties rushed to the bedside and sat down. In his hands was an iPad. The woman who had seemed motionless when he first entered the room stretched out her hand to him. Her black hair was tattered and scattered around her face. She was dressed in the hospital scrubs which were a white robe with little red dots on them. The dirty blonde-haired man who had strange hazel-like eyes placed the iPad in her grip.

The woman looked at the iPad and a picture of Aaron Warren was displayed before her. In the picture, he seemed to be crossing the street with his eyes fixed on the traffic light camera which seemed to have caught him by surprise.

“How did you find him, Ben?” She asked.

Ben shifted closer to her and clasped his hands together.

“I realized that we were looking for the wrong person the whole time,” he realized. “I sketched what he would look like presently, and this is the closest to what I could find.”

The woman was still staring at the image of Aaron.

“Where is he now?” She asked.

“New York, Mrs. Lacroix,” he replied.

Her eyes slowly went up making contact with Ben’s. Ben could see the hope glittering in her silver eyes. They had been looking for him for so long, and now they had finally found him. It had taken a lot of resources, but it had been done.

“Bring him to me,” she said.

Ben nodded and rose from the bed.

“I will, Mrs. Lacroix. It is a promise,” he assured.

Mrs. Lacroix nodded weakly at him. When Ben left the room, her eyes went back to the image of Aaron displayed on the iPad. She placed her hand on it and heaved a sigh of relief.

“My son.”