Clara explained everything she remembered.
Daniel had been brought to the São Vicente orphanage at six years old by a woman who claimed to be a social worker. She said both his parents had passed away in an accident. He grew up there quiet but kind, with a gift for drawing.
When he saw reports about missing children, he would cry silently. And one day, after a fight at the orphanage, he ran away and was never seen again.
Arthur felt the years of silence close in on him. He decided to uncover the truth once and for all.
The Orphanage and the Drawing
The next morning, Arthur hired a private investigator and brought Clara with him to the old São Vicente orphanage. The building was falling apart, but an elderly nun, Sister Madalena, still lived there.
When she saw the portrait, her face turned pale. “My goodness… Daniel. I remember him. Such a gentle boy.”
Arthur compared the records and found something alarming—the day Daniel arrived at the orphanage was the same day the police ended the search for his missing brother.
“How did he end up here?” he asked.
The nun explained that a woman with false documents had brought the child, claiming he was an orphan. The papers had been accepted without question during a chaotic time in the country.
Arthur clenched his fists. Everything made sense now—the kidnapping, the false leads, the silence. His brother had been living just a few miles away all these years.
Then the nun mentioned something else. Before Daniel disappeared, he left behind a drawing.
It showed a big house, a piano, and two children holding hands. In one corner, in shaky handwriting, were the words: “I am Lucas Menezes. Someday my brother will find me.”
Arthur and Clara both wept. The truth was finally taking shape.
Searching for the Lost Years
Arthur returned home and placed the drawing beside the portrait. The resemblance was undeniable.
He began searching every record, every report, until a lead surfaced—someone named Daniel Lucas Menezes had been hospitalized years ago after an accident.
Arthur and Clara traveled immediately. A doctor at the old hospital remembered the young man.
“He had memory problems,” the doctor said softly. “Quiet boy, always drawing. He used to sketch children and pianos.”
From an old folder, the doctor pulled out another drawing. It was the same house, the same two children.
Before leaving the hospital, the man had left a note saying he was returning to the orphanage in São Vicente.
Arthur and Clara went there again. The building was abandoned, covered in ivy. Inside, on one cracked wall, they found new drawings—fresh, yet faded by time.
A house. A piano. And beneath it, the words: “I came back, but no one was waiting.”
Clara broke down. “He returned, Arthur. He came back.”
Arthur’s eyes filled with tears. His brother had tried to find home… and been forgotten again.
Continued on next page:
