The boy scrambled backward, clutching the photograph to his chest.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t steal it,\u201d he said quickly. \u201cIt\u2019s mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
The man lifted both hands, his voice breaking.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
The boy stared at him through the fog.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho are you?\u201d<\/p>\n
The man looked down at Olivia\u2019s name, then back at the child.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy name is Henry.\u201d<\/p>\n
The boy\u2019s lips trembled.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom used to say that name when she cried.\u201d<\/p>\n
Henry closed his eyes as pain moved through him.<\/p>\n
For years, he had believed Olivia left him.<\/p>\n
For years, he had let anger bury the love he never stopped feeling.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Henry almost collapsed.<\/p>\n
That was the name Olivia had chosen the night they talked about having a family.<\/p>\n
Evan looked away.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said if anything happened to her, I should find you. But your housekeeper said you didn\u2019t want me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Henry\u2019s face went pale.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy housekeeper?\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan nodded, tears filling his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe gave me money and told me never to come back. I spent it on Mom\u2019s medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Henry covered his mouth.<\/p>\n
His own staff had turned away his son.<\/p>\n
His son had been sleeping on graves while he lived behind locked gates.<\/p>\n
Evan\u2019s voice cracked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t save her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Henry moved closer slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, Evan. You were a child.\u201d<\/p>\n
The boy shook his head hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was cold. I put my coat on her. I said I was sorry because I didn\u2019t have enough money for the doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Henry broke.<\/p>\n
He pulled the boy into his arms, and Evan fought it for one second, too used to being pushed away.<\/p>\n
Then he collapsed against him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Mom,\u201d Evan sobbed again. \u201cI found him too late.\u201d<\/p>\n
Henry held him tighter, tears falling onto the boy\u2019s damp hair.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d he whispered. \u201cShe sent you to me right on time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Behind them, the fog drifted across Olivia\u2019s grave.<\/p>\n
Henry placed one hand on the marble stone and one around the son he never knew was alive.<\/p>\n
\u201cI failed your mother,\u201d he said softly. \u201cBut I will not fail you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Evan looked up at him with red, tired eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo I have to sleep here tonight?\u201d<\/p>\n
Henry\u2019s face crumpled.<\/p>\n
He kissed the boy\u2019s forehead and lifted him into his arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cNever again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The boy scrambled backward, clutching the photograph to his chest. \u201cI didn\u2019t steal it,\u201d he said quickly. \u201cIt\u2019s mine.\u201d The man lifted both hands, his voice breaking. \u201cI know.\u201d The … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailystories24h.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailystories24h.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailystories24h.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailystories24h.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailystories24h.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1078"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailystories24h.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1080,"href":"https:\/\/dailystories24h.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1078\/revisions\/1080"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailystories24h.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailystories24h.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailystories24h.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailystories24h.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}