CHAPTER 3 — THE BOY NOBODY WANTED
The man standing in the rain looked like someone who had spent fifteen years searching for a ghost.
His expensive coat was soaked within seconds.
His carefully styled hair was ruined by the storm.
But he didn't seem to notice.
His entire world had narrowed down to one thing.
The boy standing in front of him.
Lucas.
The shoeshine boy who had spent years invisible to everyone.
The child people walked past without seeing.
The child who slept beneath bridges, cleaned shoes on cold streets, and learned at a young age that hunger was something you endured silently.
Yet now...
A stranger was looking at him like he was the most important person in the world.
Lucas didn't understand.
And that frightened him.
He stepped backward.
His hand immediately reached for the necklace beneath his shirt.
The blue gemstone.
The only thing he had left from his mother.
The only proof that he had ever belonged somewhere.
"Who are you?" Lucas asked.
His voice was quiet.
But there was fear behind it.
The man stopped.
A thousand emotions crossed his face.
Pain.
Hope.
Regret.
His lips parted.
But no words came out.
Elena watched carefully.
She had spent years around wealthy people.
She knew how powerful families behaved.
They usually entered rooms with confidence.
With control.
With the belief that the world belonged to them.
But this man was different.
He looked broken.
Like he was afraid of the answer he already knew.
Finally, he spoke.
"My name is Alexander Laurent."
The name immediately changed the atmosphere.
Even Subi knew it.
Everyone in Paris knew it.
The Laurent family.
A name connected to luxury hotels, international companies, private banks, and a fortune built over generations.
The Laurent Empire.
But Lucas only looked confused.
He had no reaction.
Because to him...
A billionaire was just another stranger.
Another person who might leave.
Alexander looked at the necklace.
"Where did you get that?"
Lucas tightened his grip.
"My mother gave it to me."
Alexander's face changed.
"Your mother?"
Lucas nodded.
"She told me to protect it."
A painful silence followed.
Alexander looked away.
For a moment, Elena saw something in his eyes.
A memory.
A wound that had never healed.
"What's your mother's name?" Alexander asked.
Lucas hesitated.
He looked uncomfortable.
"I don't know."
The answer hit Alexander harder than anything else.
"You don't know?"
Lucas shook his head.
"She told me not to say her name to strangers."
Elena noticed Alexander's hands trembling.
A powerful man.
A billionaire.
A man who controlled thousands of employees.
Yet standing there...
He looked helpless.
Like a father who had finally found something he lost.
But didn't know if he was allowed to touch it.
Fifteen years earlier.
The Laurent family mansion stood on the outskirts of Paris.
A place where politicians, celebrities, and business leaders gathered.
A place where every room contained priceless paintings and expensive furniture.
But on one particular night...
The mansion was filled with grief.
Alexander Laurent was twenty-eight years old.
Young.
Ambitious.
And newly married to Isabelle Moreau.
Everyone believed they were the perfect couple.
She was kind.
He was powerful.
Together, they were expected to create the next generation of the Laurent dynasty.
And they did.
A son.
A child they named Adrian Laurent.
The future heir.
The entire family celebrated.
Except one person.
Victoria Laurent.
Alexander's mother.
The woman who controlled the family with an iron hand.
She believed bloodline was everything.
Power was everything.
And anyone who threatened her control was an enemy.
After Adrian's birth, Victoria said something strange.
Something nobody understood at the time.
"The Laurent name cannot belong to a weak child."
Alexander remembered those words.
He remembered the coldness in his mother's eyes.
But he never imagined what she was capable of.
Until the morning Adrian disappeared.
The police investigation lasted months.
Then years.
No evidence.
No witnesses.
No answers.
The hospital claimed there had been an administrative mistake.
The security company blamed technical failure.
Everyone had an explanation.
Nobody had the truth.
Isabelle refused to believe her son was gone.
She searched hospitals.
Orphanages.
Records.
Everywhere.
Until she discovered something.
Someone had changed Adrian's birth records.
Someone had erased him.
And shortly after...
Isabelle disappeared.
The Laurent family announced she had left Paris.
They claimed she couldn't handle the grief.
But Alexander never believed that.
Because he knew his wife.
She would never abandon her child.
Never.
Back in the rain...
Alexander looked at Lucas.
"Where have you been living?"
Lucas looked down.
"Different places."
"With who?"
The boy shrugged.
"Sometimes people helped me."
"And sometimes?"
Lucas said nothing.
But Alexander understood.
The silence was enough.
Elena felt anger rising inside her.
A child.
A child connected to one of the richest families in France.
Had been living on the streets.
While the Laurent Empire searched for him.
Or claimed to search for him.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
"Alexander," Elena said.
The man looked at her.
"You recognized the necklace."
He remained silent.
"You know what it means."
Again, silence.
Elena stepped closer.
"Tell me the truth."
Alexander looked at Lucas.
Then whispered:
"That necklace belonged to my son."
The world seemed to stop.
Subi looked at Lucas.
Lucas looked at Alexander.
Neither boy understood.
But Elena did.
Her heart began beating faster.
"Your son?"
Alexander nodded.
"My son disappeared fifteen years ago."
The rain continued falling.
But nobody spoke.
Because the impossible had just become possible.
Lucas looked terrified.
"No."
Everyone turned.
The boy shook his head.
"No, that's not true."
Alexander moved forward.
Lucas stepped back.
"My mother said my father was gone."
Alexander's expression broke.
"Who was your mother?"
Lucas looked away.
"I can't tell you."
"Why?"
"Because she made me promise."
"What promise?"
Lucas's eyes became wet.
"She said if anyone from the Laurent family found me..."
He swallowed.
"...I should run."
The words struck Alexander like a knife.
Elena noticed.
Because that meant one thing.
Someone had taught this child to fear his own family.
Someone had convinced him that the people searching for him were dangerous.
Someone had been hiding the truth.
For fifteen years.
Alexander slowly looked at Elena.
His voice was barely audible.
"Who are you?"
Elena hesitated.
She knew this moment would change everything.
"My name is Elena Moreau."
Alexander froze.
"Moreau?"
She nodded.
"My sister was Isabelle Moreau."
The color disappeared from Alexander's face.
Because suddenly...
Everything connected.
The necklace.
The boy.
The name.
The impossible coincidence.
"Isabelle..."
He whispered.
Then he looked at Lucas.
His eyes filled with tears he had spent years refusing to shed.
"My son..."
Lucas immediately shook his head.
"No."
The boy stepped backward.
"I don't have a father."
Alexander stopped.
Because he understood.
This wasn't a reunion.
Not yet.
This was a wounded child standing in front of the man who should have protected him.
A child who had learned not to trust.
A child who had survived by believing nobody was coming.
Elena looked at Lucas.
Then at Alexander.
And she realized something painful.
Finding Lucas was only the beginning.
The hardest part would not be proving who he was.
The hardest part would be convincing him...
That he was finally home.
That night, while Paris slept beneath the rain...
A photograph hidden inside an abandoned apartment was discovered.
An old photograph.
A picture of a baby wearing the same blue necklace.
Beside it was a handwritten note.
Only five words.
May you like
Five words that would expose the biggest betrayal in Laurent family history.
"Victoria knows where he is."
