-Vaughn Blackmore:
"My mom's here," I spoke up so that everybody could hear, announcing my mom's arrival.
The words left my mouth quickly, almost breathlessly, and the second I said them out loud, the entire atmosphere inside the living room changed again.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
But heavily.
Like every single person in the room, I suddenly became aware that this moment—this exact moment—could change everything.
Because until now, it had only been speculation. A possibility. A theory built from similarities, from missing pieces, from instincts and memories, and impossible coincidences.
But my mom?
My mom would know for sure. She'll recognize him.
If Ezra really was my brother… if he really was the baby stolen from her all those years ago… she would know the second she looked at him.
I stood up so quickly the couch barely had time to shift beneath me before I was already walking toward the front door.
My heartbeat had become painfully loud in my chest now.
