She planned to call him Matthew, because she believed a child who entered the world under difficult circumstances deserved a strong beginning.
Meanwhile Jonathan Blake spent most evenings alone inside his office at the large family estate outside Denver. A glass of whiskey often sat untouched beside him while memories of Angela’s laughter filled the quiet room.
One afternoon his younger brother Samuel leaned against the office doorway and studied him carefully.
“Why have you not tried harder to find her,” Samuel asked. “You love her and everyone can see that.”
Jonathan gave a tired laugh that sounded hollow even to his own ears.
“Maybe my mother was right and Angela only wanted to join the family,” he muttered.
The sentence sounded false the moment it left his mouth.
Angela had never shown interest in his fortune, his home, or his connections, and he knew that truth deep in his chest.
The real reason for his silence was something far more shameful.
He had been afraid.
He feared confronting his powerful mother and feared becoming the son who broke the family image of perfection.