CHAPTER 5 — THE SECRET HIDDEN IN THE HOSPITAL RECORDS
The morning after Lucas arrived at the Laurent mansion, Paris woke beneath a pale gray sky.
The rain had stopped.
But the storm inside the Laurent family had only begun.
For fifteen years, Alexander Laurent had lived with unanswered questions.
Where was his son?
Who took him?
Why did every piece of evidence disappear?
Why did everyone who promised to help eventually stop searching?
He had built an empire.
He had defeated competitors.
He had negotiated billion-dollar deals.
But there was one battle he had never won.
Finding his child.
And now...
His child was sleeping under his roof.
Yet Alexander knew something.
Finding Lucas was only the beginning.
Because before he could call himself Lucas's father...
He had to uncover who stole his son.
At breakfast, Lucas sat silently at the enormous dining table.
The room was larger than the entire apartment where he had lived before.
A dozen servants moved quietly around him.
Silver plates.
Crystal glasses.
Food he had only seen in movies.
But Lucas barely touched anything.
Subi sat beside him.
Unlike everyone else, he didn't treat Lucas like a mystery.
He treated him like a friend.
"You don't like the pancakes?"
Lucas looked at him.
"They're too perfect."
Subi frowned.
"Too perfect?"
Lucas nodded.
"My old ones were burned."
Subi smiled.
"Burned pancakes are better?"
Lucas thought for a moment.
"Sometimes."
Subi laughed.
And for the first time that morning...
Lucas smiled.
Across the table, Elena watched.
She noticed something.
Subi was the only person who could make Lucas forget his fear.
A small boy had entered their lives carrying years of pain.
And another small boy had unknowingly become his first friend.
After breakfast, Alexander entered the room.
His expression was serious.
"We need to go somewhere."
Lucas immediately became cautious.
"Where?"
"The hospital."
Lucas's hand moved toward his necklace.
Alexander noticed.
"You don't have to be afraid."
"My mother hated hospitals."
The sentence stopped everyone.
Alexander looked at him.
"Why?"
Lucas looked down.
"She said hospitals took people away."
Elena felt a chill.
Because that sentence sounded exactly like something Isabelle would have said after what happened.
Alexander approached slowly.
"Lucas..."
The boy looked up.
"I promise you."
Alexander knelt.
"I will never let anyone take you away from me again."
Lucas didn't answer.
But he didn't step away either.
For Alexander...
That was already a beginning.
The Saint-Claire Hospital had changed dramatically in fifteen years.
The old building had been renovated.
New equipment.
Modern technology.
Different doctors.
Different staff.
But one place remained untouched.
The archive room.
The place where old records were stored.
Alexander walked through the hallway with Elena beside him.
Behind them were Lucas and Subi.
The hospital director greeted them nervously.
"Mr. Laurent."
Alexander didn't smile.
"I need the records from fifteen years ago."
The director hesitated.
"Which records?"
"Birth records."
The man's expression changed.
Everyone in Paris knew the story.
The missing Laurent child.
The tragedy that became one of the city's biggest mysteries.
"I thought those files were sealed."
Alexander looked at him.
"Open them."
The director swallowed.
"Of course."
Thirty minutes later...
A dusty box was placed on the table.
The label was faded.
LAURENT — ADRIAN — CONFIDENTIAL
Alexander stared at it.
His hands became tense.
Fifteen years.
Fifteen years waiting to open this box.
Elena stood beside him.
Lucas watched quietly.
Nobody spoke.
Finally, Alexander opened the file.
The first pages were normal.
Birth information.
Medical details.
Mother's name.
Father's name.
Then...
Something strange appeared.
A page was missing.
Alexander looked up.
"What happened here?"
The director looked confused.
"I don't know."
"This file was altered."
The room became silent.
Elena looked at the missing section.
Someone had deliberately removed information.
Someone had wanted the truth hidden.
Then Elena noticed something.
A small handwritten note attached to the back of the file.
She carefully removed it.
The handwriting was familiar.
Her heart stopped.
"No..."
Alexander looked at her.
"What?"
Elena's fingers trembled.
"This is my sister's handwriting."
Everyone became silent.
She unfolded the paper.
Only a few words were written.
"If my son is gone, don't trust the family."
Alexander froze.
"What?"
Elena continued reading.
"Someone inside the Laurent family knows what happened."
Lucas stared at the note.
His face became pale.
Because those words confirmed something he had always felt.
His mother had been afraid.
Not without reason.
Suddenly, the hospital director spoke.
"There is something else."
Everyone looked at him.
He appeared nervous.
"What?"
The director opened another drawer.
"I wasn't supposed to keep this."
He removed a small envelope.
"It was hidden behind the original file."
Alexander grabbed it.
Inside was a photograph.
An old photograph.
A nurse holding a newborn baby.
Around the baby's neck...
Was the blue necklace.
But there was something else.
Written on the back.
A name.
"Lucas Moreau."
Elena gasped.
Lucas stepped backward.
"My name..."
Alexander looked at the photograph.
The truth was becoming clearer.
The child known as Lucas...
Had once been Adrian Laurent.
But someone had erased his identity.
Changed his name.
Destroyed his past.
Then the lights suddenly went out.
The entire archive room became dark.
A few seconds later...
The emergency lights turned on.
But the photograph was gone.
Everyone froze.
"What happened?" Alexander demanded.
The director looked terrified.
"I don't know."
Elena immediately looked toward the door.
A shadow disappeared down the hallway.
Someone had been watching.
Someone had entered the archive room.
Someone had stolen the evidence.
Alexander ran after them.
The hallway echoed with footsteps.
The figure moved quickly.
Too quickly.
But before disappearing through the exit...
Alexander saw something.
A ring.
A family ring.
A Laurent family symbol.
The same symbol worn by only one person.
Someone who had access to everything.
Someone who had the power to erase records.
Someone who had spent fifteen years hiding the truth.
Alexander stopped.
His face became cold.
Because he finally understood.
The enemy wasn't outside the family.
It was inside.
Back in the archive room, Lucas stood beside Elena.
He looked at the empty space where the photograph had been.
"Who would do this?"
Elena looked at him.
Her heart broke.
Because she knew the answer.
But she wasn't ready to say it.
Before she could speak...
Alexander returned.
His expression had changed.
The pain was gone.
Only determination remained.
"Lucas."
The boy looked up.
Alexander took a deep breath.
"I know who we need to talk to."
"Who?"
Alexander stared toward the mansion outside.
Toward the woman who controlled the Laurent family for decades.
His mother.
"Victoria Laurent."
Lucas became pale.
The name alone frightened him.
And Alexander knew...
The woman who stole his son's childhood...
Was about to face the son she tried to erase.
That night, in a hidden room inside the Laurent mansion...
Victoria Laurent opened an old wooden box.
Inside was another necklace.
A matching blue gemstone.
She touched it with a cold smile.
"So..."
She whispered.
"The lost child finally came home."
A servant standing nearby asked:
"Madam, what will you do?"
Victoria looked at the necklace.
Then at an old photograph of baby Adrian.
Her eyes showed no regret.
Only calculation.
"Simple."
May you like
She closed the box.
"I will make sure he disappears again."
