a millionaire returned home after a long business trip but as he reached for the gate to step in

he suddenly heard a crying sound emanating from the massive industrial dumpster

he approached lifted the lid the sight within left him completely stunned

four tiny children were huddled inside along with a piece of paper containing a message that made him scream and collapse

the wipers of the Audi Q8 lashed fiercely against the windshield struggling to clear the sheet of white rain

enveloping the whole of Oregon Daniel Harper lightly gripped the steering wheel

guiding the heavy vehicle past the elaborately carved iron gates

he deliberately ignored the phone screen lit up on the passenger seat where congratulatory messages

from real estate partners kept pouring in after the high profile merger he had just finalized

to them Daniel Harper was a shark in the business world

to himself he was just a 38 year old man driving back to a vast place

haunted by the lingering dull ache of the past six years ever since his wife passed away in the delivery room

with their child who was never named the car rolled into the garage

its headlights sweeping across the empty yard Daniel turned off the ignition

he sat still hands firmly on the steering wheel eyes fixed on the darkness ahead

this was his familiar ritual over the past six years 10 minutes alone in the car to breathe

to convince himself that he had the strength to enter the enormous house and face the cold walls

come on Daniel just one more night he mumbled Daniel opened the car door

the damp chill of the November rain immediately seeped into his collar

he intended to go straight to the kitchen find the chilled bottle of wine waiting in the cabinet

and tell himself it was the remedy that would help him fall asleep

but a small noise suddenly made him stop something was wrong

with the row of industrial dumpsters placed against the oak fence behind the garage

they were emitting a sound the heavy metal lid which his housekeeper Martha

always meticulously kept tightly closed was propped up at a wide angle

rain lashed violently into that black gap darn it the raccoons are back

Daniel muttered he returned to the car and retrieved a professional flashlight from the glove compartment

holding it he quickly strode toward the dumpster planning to slam it shut before the wild animal scattered everything

across the yard the rain whipped against Daniel’s face cold and biting

he reached out and forcefully shoved the lid open his thumb pressed the flashlight button

a blinding white beam of light tore through the night shining straight into the deep bottom of the bin

Daniel froze it wasn’t trash and it wasn’t raccoons lying atop the wet

black plastic bags were four tiny shapes huddled together Daniel’s heart skipped

a beat so forceful it made his chest ache four children

they were minuscule estimated to be just over a year old their skin pale and bluish under the harsh flashlight beam

they weren’t wearing proper clothes only loosely wrapped in thin yellowish gauze cloths that reeked of strong urine

mixed with the stench of garbage the most terrifying thing wasn’t the filth

but the silence four pairs of large deeply sunken eyes simultaneously stared up at the dazzling Halo of light

not a cry not a scream Daniel’s hand trembled

he swung the flashlight back and forth disbelieving his eyes the light stopped

at the edge of the outermost baby’s diaper a crumpled piece of paper was loosely tucked there

he stooped low almost leaning entirely into the foul smelling dumpster

and snatched the paper the rainwater had smeared the hastily written ink

but Daniel could still read the shaky line you paid for this look where your money went

he crumpled the paper in his palm a feeling of raging fury and horror swelling up

accompanied by a thousand questions what the heck was happening

what had he been an accomplice to he reached deeper into the dumpster

ignoring the dirty water soaking his expensive suit he scooped up the nearest baby with both hands

its body was ice cold but as he pressed it against his chest Daniel felt a faint

intermittent breath desperately clinging to life he yelled for Martha

the housekeeper call an ambulance immediately the shout tore through the rain

frantic and fractured minutes later the wail of the ambulance Siren echoed

red and blue lights flashing across the old pine trees the false tranquility of the estate shattered

Daniel sat in the back of the ambulance his hand still tightly clasping the cold

small hand of a little girl who was fading the paramedics worked feverishly

the incessant beeping of machines the rustling tear of needle packaging

all creating a chaotic symphony that pressed down on his chest

the smell of disinfectant hit Daniel’s nose the moment the stretcher was pushed

through the emergency room door that sharp cold smell triggered a flashback in his mind

six years ago it was in this very hallway that he had stood watching the operating room door slam shut

separating him from Laura forever we need you to wait outside

Mr Harper a nurse stopped him right at the red line

marking the sterile zone Daniel stood rooted in the corner of the hallway

his back against the cold wall he looked through the thick glass

seeing chief physician Evans directing the medical team they inserted IV tubes into arms as thin as kindling

placing electrodes onto bony chests where every rib was visible

two hours crawled by like two centuries Daniel paced back and forth counting every white tile beneath his feet