CHAPTER 3: THE HUNT FOR THE TRUTH
The attack came that same night.
Gunfire shattered the windows of the Cross estate.
Security alarms exploded throughout the mansion.
Stellan grabbed Wren and pulled Nora behind him.
His men returned fire.
Within minutes, the attackers fled.
But they left behind a message.
A burned photograph.
In the picture was Wren.
A red X painted across her face.
Nora nearly collapsed.
Stellan's jaw tightened.
Nobody threatened his family.
Nobody.
The next morning, he launched a private investigation.
What they discovered shocked even him.
For years, a secret organization known only as The Circle had operated inside Chicago's elite.
Their business wasn't drugs.
It wasn't weapons.
It was identity.
Children were swapped.
Birth records altered.
DNA databases manipulated.
Entire family dynasties built on lies.
And Wren's birth had accidentally exposed everything.
The hospital technician who performed her newborn screening had noticed discrepancies.
Before she could report them, she disappeared.
Officially, she died in a car accident.
Unofficially, she was murdered.
As Stellan dug deeper, names began appearing.
A senator.
A federal judge.
Even one of his closest business allies.
The conspiracy reached higher than anyone imagined.
Then came the final shock.
The Circle wasn't only protecting a secret.
They were searching for something.
A hidden ledger containing decades of evidence.
And according to encrypted files recovered from the hospital...
The ledger had been hidden by the murdered technician.
For safekeeping.
May you like
Inside Wren's medical teddy bear.
The same teddy bear sitting in her nursery.
