Three students were bullying the nine-year-old son of the school cleaner. But when the mother rushed to defend the boy, I recognized in her the woman I had lost ten years earlier, and the age of her son made me wonder if I might be his father. However, the truth about what had happened many years ago turned out to be far more horrifying… 😨
I saw my former love wearing a cleaner’s uniform at the school that now belonged to me, even though she had suddenly left me ten years earlier.
Only the school administration knew that I had become the new owner of the school. I had deliberately come without warning so I could see for myself what was really happening there.
In the hallway, three teenagers had surrounded a little boy.
— They only let you in here because your mother cleans our bathrooms, one of them sneered.
The boy lowered his head. I was just about to intervene when the cleaner quickly approached them.
— Get away from him immediately! she said firmly. — How much his parents earn does not make you better than him.
The teenagers left, and the woman hugged the boy and quietly said:
— Noah, go to class. I’ll be there soon.
He ran off, and she turned toward me.
I froze.
— Sofia?..
Ten years ago, we had loved each other and planned to get married. But after one terrible argument, she had suddenly disappeared from my life. I had never seen her again.
Sofia recognized me too, but there was no happiness on her face.
I looked after the boy.
— Is he your son?
— Yes.
— How old is he?
She immediately understood why I was asking.
— Nine.
My mouth went dry.
— Sofia… who is his father?
She went pale.
— Ethan, not here.
An hour later, I asked them to bring me Noah’s personal file. In the section marked “father,” there was a dash.
But then I saw his date of birth.
I calculated the months several times and felt my hands begin to tremble.
At that very moment, the door to my office opened. Sofia was standing in the doorway.
— You’ve already figured it out, haven’t you? she asked quietly.
I stood up.
— Tell me just one thing. Is Noah my son?
Sofia looked at me for a long time and then said:
— Before I answer, you need to know what really happened ten years ago. Because we were separated by someone you still trust to this day…
After her next words, I simply couldn’t move. 😱
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— Before I answer, you need to know what really happened ten years ago. Because we were separated by someone you still trust to this day…
After her next words, I simply couldn’t move.
— It was your brother, Ethan.
I thought I had misheard her. But Sofia told me that after our last argument, she found out she was pregnant and tried to contact me several times. One day, she came to my house, but my older brother Mark opened the door.
He told her that I had already left and didn’t want to see her anymore. Sofia gave him a letter in which she had written about the pregnancy and asked him to give it to me.
I never received that letter.
— But why would Mark do that?
Sofia lowered her eyes.
It turned out that shortly before our breakup, Mark had confessed his feelings for her. She rejected him and threatened to tell me. So he decided to do everything he could to make us break up: he showed me photographs of Sofia with another man, convincing me that she was cheating on me. In reality, the man in the photographs was her cousin, who had come to the city for only a few days.
Back then, I believed Mark more than the woman I loved.
That same evening, I called my brother. At first, he denied everything, but when I mentioned the letter, he fell silent. That silence was enough for me.
And Noah really did turn out to be my son. A paternity test later confirmed it.
I didn’t try to become his “dad” right away. I started with small things: I helped him with his homework, attended his school events, and sometimes the three of us had lunch together after classes. Gradually, the boy stopped looking at me like a stranger.
I offered Sofia a job as a school psychologist — that was exactly the field in which she had earned her degree. But she accepted only after making sure that I wasn’t offering her the position out of pity.
As for Mark, our relationship ended. I still haven’t been able to forgive him for the ten years he stole from us.
Sometimes I think about that morning in the school hallway. I had come there as the new owner, intending to deal with the problems involving other people’s children.
And I could never have imagined that among them, I would meet my own son.
