On a wet Thursday afternoon weeks later, the email said, “Your DNA results are ready.”

I sprang off the sofa and grabbed my laptop. As I clicked the link, my heart raced. Heritage was intriguing. German, Irish, and unexpectedly Mediterranean. I was halted by the “Relatives” section.

Sibling: Close familial match. Name: Noah R.”

I blinked. Page refreshed. Internet browser closed and reopened.

Sibling?

It couldn’t be. Being the lone kid. Everyone knew. Looked at the name again.

Noah?

I contacted the DNA business with trembling fingers.

“Hi, I think there’s a mistake in my results,” I mumbled.

“Hi Alex,” perky salesperson said. “We double-check results. What’s wrong?

It claims I have a brother. That’s impossible.”

“I understand how surprising it can be,” she remarked kindly. Our near related matches are quite accurate. It might be an unknown sibling.”

Calling didn’t help. My head felt short-circuited.

I confronted Dad when he came home. Tried to sound casual.

“Dad, remember my DNA test?”

He nodded, untying his tie.

It linked me with Noah. He claims to be my brother.”

Dad froze. The color left his face.

“Where did you hear that name?” he murmured.

My stomach sank.

The man sat slowly with his head in his hands. Do not inform your mother. She’s unaware. I erred before you were born. An affair. I wasn’t aware of a kid.”

I nodded numbly. He seemed disturbed, so I agreed to keep it a secret.

But it felt wrong. He concealed more.

I kept thinking about Noah. The DNA platform let me message him. I was surprised by his quick response.

“ALEX?! Years of searching for you. Is it you?

I met him at a little downtown coffee shop the following day after we texted. I kept it from my parents.

I knew when I saw him. He looked like me. Same eyes. Same hair. Same crooked smile.

Standing, he questioned “Alex?”

Shocked, I nodded. We sat.

He became nostalgic.

“Remember the lakeside swing? We fought over the rusted chain and threw rocks till sunset.”

Shaking my head. I suppose you’re mistaking me for someone else. I never lived near a lake.”

He blinks. No, we did. Until six. And Scruffy—our dog. You forget him?

I was uncomfortable. My dad said you were an affair. I’d never heard of you until two days ago.”

Noah regarded me. An affair? Thought I was the secret? We were brothers, Alex. Real brothers. Same house. Same parents.”

“That’s impossible.”

Leaning forward. “Do you recall the fire?”

“What fire?”

A fire that destroyed our building. Our parents died. I was rescued by you. After that, we split. You’re adopted. I went to foster care.”

My heart hammered.

“No,” I answered. “I’m not adopted. I’d know.”

“You were. I was forbidden from contacting you. Law things. They wanted to bury it.”

Mind-shattered, I returned home. Is that true?

Next day, I sneaked into Dad’s home office after my parents left. I felt guilty yet wanted answers.

I spotted a lockable drawer below his file cabinet. He taped the key beneath his desk. Old newspaper clippings, court records, and sealed letters found within.

The fire existed.

It occurred sixteen years ago in a tenement. Electrical difficulties. Complaints disregarded. Filed lawsuits. Deaths.

I noticed my name. Adoption papers. Mother and father Carla and Martin were landlords. They housed me after the fire.

Not kindly.

Protecting themselves. To silence a survivor. Make the lawsuit go away.

Whole body cooled.

Let my true family perish. They adopted me to cover their sins.

I awaited their return that night. File in hand, I stood in the living room.

How come you never told me about the fire? Or Noah? Or my adoption?”

Mom seemed perplexed. Dad paled again.

“You searched my office?”

“Do not twist. You let my brother grow up in the system while I lied.”

Trying to explain. Something about improving my life. I was adored. That they couldn’t have children and saw an opportunity to parent.

I couldn’t ignore reality.

Loaded my suitcase and phoned Noah.

“Can I stay with you a few days?”

Always, he said.

He picked me up 20 minutes later.

We ate takeaway on his filthy sofa that night. He recounted our childhood. Scruffy. The lake. Our mothers laugh. Our dad cooks poorly.

Nothing stuck in my mind.

But I wanted.

“They stole you from me,” Noah said. “They took everything.”

He didn’t yell. Just sad.

I nodded. No words came to mind.

My ideal existence was ash-based.

I understood I hadn’t lost everything when I saw my brother.

Found the truth.

In that fact, I rediscovered a part of myself I never realized was missing.