I didn't want to end up hurting her even more with all the conflicts with my family and her celebrity life.
I buried my face with my hands, sitting at my desk, when Ashton, my secretary, walked into my office.
Immediately, I focused my attention on him as he was going to give me another report.
"We've found what you're looking for," Ashton said, but he looked reluctant, as if whatever information that he'd acquired was bad. "We found out about what happened to Cassie. And we've found your son."
I was taken aback, abruptly straightening up. "My son?" My voice was shaking.
It was a boy.
"Yes, your son." He looked at me with sympathy, and I didn't like it one bit, as if he was telling me that something bad had happened to my son.
I waited for him to say more.
"We've looked through the records of all the hospitals in New York from the day that you left for your business trip in Texas in autumn 2014," Ashton said. "And indeed, she was admitted into one of them. She had an accident. A car crash."
My heart felt like it was being squeezed so violently until it burst into dust. "What?" I stuttered.
"She was hit by a car when she was crossing an intersection," Aston said with sad eyes. "Luke." He took a deep breath, as if bracing himself to deliver the information. "They said that she lost a part of her memory because of the brain damage she got from the accident."
Everything around me felt like it was crumbling. The air in my lungs was sucked out, and I felt like someone had just shot me in the head.
"The record said that she lost one year of her memory before the accident," Ashton said. "She might not remember you anymore." His last sentence was said softly—he knew that it would kill me.
What kind of nonsense was this?
Did Ashton just say that Cassie had forgotten everything about us?
I still couldn't believe how cruel fate had turned for us.
The big lump in my throat made it so difficult to speak that it was only a whisper that left my mouth when I asked, "What about our son?"
Ashton let out a long sigh. "Both Cassie and your son survived the accident. The hospital called her guardian, which was her stepmother, Morgan. She came from LA to New York. Due to Cassie's critical condition, it took a few days for her to wake up, but miraculously, the baby was fine and healthy. They handed the baby to Morgan, who told them that she would take good care of him and that they had a house and a family in New York. But..."
The expression on Ashton's face made me start to doubt whether I still wanted to hear the rest of the story or not.
"I've already checked further about that too. Based on the data we've got, they apparently had no house nor relatives here that would have helped them with the baby while waiting for Cassie to get discharged from the hospital. Morgan was lying."
My heart was beating so fast. I waited for Ashton to continue.
"I've checked the orphanages in this city, and there is one boy who was brought in on the same day that your son was discharged from the hospital," Ashton said, and my heart sank. "I've talked with the head of the orphanage. That day, somebody put a box in front of the gate and left. When they checked what was inside the box, they were startled to find a newborn baby."
I couldn't believe that all of those things had happened to Cassie and our son, and I hadn't even been there to protect them.
I hadn't been there when they needed me the most.
I balled my hand into a fist, clenching it tightly at my side. "Where is that orphanage?"
???
While some kids were playing soccer on the field in front of me, their shouts echoing in my ears, my eyes were glued to one particular brown-haired boy who was sitting alone in the corner, a drawing paper on his lap, a crayon in his hand.
He was five years old.
"The DNA test is out," Ashton said beside me, while I still hadn't taken my eyes off the boy. "It's confirmed. He's your son."
Even though I'd expected that, my heart still skipped a beat. All these emotions inside me were too overwhelming.
