The Mafia Lord's Secret Lover (Evelyn and Axel) novel Chapter 396

Chapter 396: They Will Strike Again!

Something in Ethan’s face hardened then, as if a wall had cracked under pressure. His eyes reddened, bloodshot not from pain but from emotions finally catching up to him.

Axel noticed but didn’t stop. "She and my wife already planned to celebrate your birthday at our house. That was before they even knew I had found you."

Ethan let out a shaky breath, half a laugh, and half something dangerously close to breaking. "So... I’ve been invited to my own birthday without knowing it?"

"Apparently," Axel said lightly, trying to lighten the heaviness in the room. "You’re very popular, Noah Henry Davis. Ugh, it sounds weird to call you that. For now, I’ll call you Ethan..."

That earned a quiet chuckle from Ethan, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Axel handed the iPad to him. "This is your family."

Ethan hesitated before taking it. The screen lit up, revealing photos, documents, and names. His parents. His childhood. Faces he didn’t remember but somehow recognized all the same.

He scrolled slowly, his silence heavier than words.

Axel observed him intensely before speaking again. His voice was calm, but there was an unmistakable weight behind it. "Do you want to meet your mother now?"

Ethan finally looked up. The conflict in his eyes was unmistakable, but so was the spark of something new, fragile yet undeniable.

"I want to," Ethan said honestly.

Then he glanced down at himself, his fingers brushing lightly over the bandage on his chest and the brace supporting his arm.

"But not like this." He gestured to his injuries with a faint, self-deprecating smile. "I don’t want her first impression of me to be... broken."

Axel nodded slowly, understanding immediately.

A faint smile crossed Axel’s lips as a memory surfaced, unexpected but vivid. "That’s almost exactly what I told my wife last night," he added, his tone softening. "When she asks whether you can meet your mother soon."

Axel let out a quiet breath that almost resembled a chuckle, then continued, "Well, I agree with you, Ethan. Your mother has waited too long, hoped too hard. Seeing you injured like this would only hurt her more. I won’t let that happen."

Ethan gave a small laugh, but the sound cut short when pain flared sharply in his chest. He sucked in a breath, his jaw tightening as he rode it out.

Axel’s gaze sharpened. "Careful."

"I forgot my body hasn’t forgiven me yet," Ethan muttered, inhaling slowly until the pain subsided.

Axel continued, his tone firm. "But you need to recover fast. I told Evelyn that you can meet your mother before your birthday."

Ethan blinked. "When is that?"

"December thirty-first. Less than three weeks away."

The room fell quiet. Only the steady hum of medical equipment filled the space, rhythmic and impersonal.

’December thirty-first.’ The date echoed in Ethan’s mind, strange and heavy. A birthday he had only learned about now. A day that was supposed to belong to him, yet felt like it belonged to someone else entirely. Someone he no longer remembered.

He lowered his gaze to the iPad resting on his lap, filled with files, photos, and names. His family. His past. No matter how many times he stared at the images, nothing surfaced. No warmth. No recognition. Just an aching emptiness where memories should have been.

"I’ll try," he said quietly. "I’ll heal as fast as I can."

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