“Killed in a fire onboard his father’s yacht.”
“The body too badly burned to identify.”
“Sterling Beaufort, newly married and having a baby. And now this. Just what else will The Beaufort family surprise us with?”
Their voices swirl around inside my skull, pecking at me with incessant shrillness, until one clear voice from a news woman rings out above all the others, making my heart stall.
“The city of New York wakes up with many questions this morning, following the news that Slade Beaufort, the son of billionaire Beaufort Diamonds owner, Sterling Beaufort, has been found alive, three years after he was declared dead following a fire on his father’s yacht. More on this story as it emerges.”
I grab onto Mel, needing something to steady me. They found him, or he found them. Is that where he went last night, to see them? He said he was going to wait until today, but maybe he couldn’t stand not knowing how they’d react.
“Something’s happening!” Mel shouts above the swell of the crowd as lights flash and people yell and surge toward the building.
A man, flanked by two other men in dark suits, steps out and raises his hand in the air, calling for silence. The sea of reporters hush, waiting on whatever he’s about to say.
He clears his throat, taking a piece of card from his inside pocket. “I have a statement here from The Beaufort family, which I shall now read.
“Yesterday evening, we became aware of the sudden and shocking news that our beloved son, brother, and nephew, Slade Beaufort, whom we believed to have perished in a fire that claimed his mother’s life three years ago, is in fact, alive.”
The crowd gasps, and the clicking of cameras goes wild.
“We don’t have answers at this point. But we can say that he appears to be in good health, and we are feeling indescribably blessed that he is home with us. We’d ask that you please give us time as a family to navigate this sudden news, together, and in private.”
The man tucks the card away and looks up. “The store will remain closed today. No questions at this time, thank you.”
He steps inside, and the crowd erupts, shouting questions like vultures as they hammer on the glass of the door and take pictures through the windows.
“Well, shit,” Mel says.
“Where is he?” I choke out.
“With his family by the sounds of it. Where do they live?”
I shake my head. Googling them never brought up anything personal. They keep everything private. I know they all live in Manhattan, but that’s all I have.
“I don’t know!” I sob.
“Did he tell you anything that would narrow it down?”
“No.” I press a hand over my forehead which feels like it could explode from the building pressure inside my skull. “I have no idea. He’s never said. Do you think he’s okay?”
“He’s with his family. I’m sure he’s fine.”
I swallow past the lump in my throat. She’s right. Slade’s with his family. I just wish I could hear his voice and look into his eyes. Then I’d know if he wasreallyokay.
“This is so much for him. He…” I feel so helpless. So useless. I need to know if he’s okay.
“Unless you can think of where they might be, you’re going to have to wait it out,” Mel says, trying her best to console me. “He’ll get in touch.”
I spend the morning watching the news for updates like a hawk with Mel by my side after I call into work sick. The local channels are all over the story like a rash. Not much emerges, except hints at Slade having amnesia, followed by a flurry of doctors invited to talk about the effects of memory loss and how it could have occurred in this situation.
Is that what the Beauforts are telling people to explain Slade’s reappearance? That he had memory loss and didn’t know who he really is these past three years?
The idea makes anger ignite through my veins like a lit fuse. He knows exactly who he is. He’s suffered every day, knowing that he was no longer a part of their family. That they’d deserted him. Blamed him for something that was never his fault.
Do they even understand what their actions did to him?
I click off another news channel in disgust as they talk about unidentified people who’ve woken from comas years later and finally been able to tell doctors who they really are.
