He only intended to adopt his ex-wife’s son. Yet fate had other plans—it turned out to be his own flesh and blood…
When Emily left Simon, his heart felt as though it had been carved straight from his chest. Six years together, four of them under the same roof. He had loved her with his whole being—faithfully, achingly. But she had chosen another. Wealthier. Promising her a new-build home, a life free from penny-pinching. And Simon was left behind, shattered, adrift.
He buried himself in work, scarcely returning home except to feed his tabby, Whiskers. Friends fell by the wayside, hobbies forgotten. Yet, within a few years, he rose to department head, then struck out on his own business. Only then did the pain begin to fade, leaving space for life—for people, for himself.
Then came the terrible news: Emily was dead. Beaten by that same “wealthy” husband, she had fallen during one of their rows—fatally, cruelly. Left behind was a young son, bound for the orphanage. Simon didn’t hesitate—he went to the boy at once.
There he sat, pressed into a corner, weeping. Small. Broken. As if the world had died inside him. Simon couldn’t bear it. Day after day, he visited, bringing toys, sweets, sitting quietly beside him. Slowly, the boy warmed to him, reaching out. And so Simon made his choice: he would adopt him. After all, he still loved Emily. How could he abandon her son to face the world alone?
Within weeks, the boy moved in. A year later, Simon couldn’t imagine life without him. In spirit, this was his son—bright, kind, full of laughter. They strolled in Hyde Park, holidayed in Cornwall, rode the carousel at Brighton Pier. Then, at a mate’s birthday gathering, an offhand comment struck like lightning:
“Bloke, you sure he’s not yours? Spitting image of you, he is.”
Simon scoffed. “Emily would’ve said.”
“What if she didn’t know?”
The thought gnawed at him. He took a DNA test. The result? A match. His own son—his blood.
Simon was torn—joy, grief, guilt. He’d never known the boy existed. And Emily… Had she been ignorant too? Or had she kept silent?
Now he understood why the lad had felt so familiar from the start. He hadn’t just saved a stranger’s child from loneliness. He’d brought his own son home. The past couldn’t be undone, but now—now he had a chance to make things right. For his boy. For Emily’s memory. For himself.
