I wanted to stop the recording.

I wanted to throw the little device across the room.

Instead, I sat perfectly still.

Garrett’s voice filled Rebecca’s office.

“I never agreed to give up my daughters.”

A man’s voice answered.

“Then you shouldn’t have signed the papers.”

I recognized that voice.

Richard Cole.

My father-in-law.

Garrett spoke again.

“You told me they were only insurance documents.”

“They were insurance documents. In a manner of speaking.”

“You lied to me.”

Richard laughed.

“You’ve been living off my money for years. Don’t pretend you suddenly have principles.”

I felt sick.

Then Garrett said something I would remember for the rest of my life.

“Emily doesn’t know anything about this. Leave her out of it.”

Richard’s voice hardened.

“Then make sure she stays exhausted enough not to ask questions.”

The recording ended.

For several seconds, nobody spoke.

Finally, I looked at Vanessa.

“What does that mean?”

She lowered her eyes.

“Richard created Northbridge as part of a network of companies that managed family trusts and guardianship funds. Some of the arrangements were legitimate. Others were not.”

Rebecca leaned forward.

“Be specific.”

Vanessa swallowed.

“Richard used forged documents to claim authority over money held for vulnerable children. He moved funds between accounts and concealed who actually controlled them.”

“And my daughters?”

Vanessa hesitated.

“Richard wanted their names added to a new family trust. He intended to use falsified guardianship records to obtain control over assets placed in their names.”

I shook my head.

“They’re babies.”

“I know.”

“Why would Garrett agree?”

“He didn’t understand what he’d signed at first.”

I looked at the recorder.

“But he knew later.”

Vanessa said nothing.

And that silence hurt more than any explanation.

Because Garrett had known.

He had known there was something wrong.

And instead of telling me, he had left me alone with two infants while he tried to fix the problem himself.

Rebecca asked Vanessa how she had obtained the recording.

Vanessa explained that she had worked as an accountant for Northbridge.

When she discovered irregularities, she began preserving records.

She had also learned that Richard was using Garrett’s signature to authorize transactions.

Garrett had contacted her after discovering the missing children in his father’s records.

Mia and Oliver were Richard’s younger children from a relationship he had concealed from his family.

Their mother had died years earlier.

Richard had arranged for them to live with another family while continuing to control money intended for their care.

Garrett had been searching for them.

But the explanation did not excuse what he had done to me.

I looked at Vanessa.

“Why didn’t he tell me?”

She hesitated.

“Because Richard threatened to destroy his career and freeze the accounts Garrett depended on.”

I almost laughed.

“His career?”

I thought of the bottles piled in our sink.

The nights when I had cried quietly in the bathroom.

The morning I had fallen asleep sitting upright because I was afraid to put both babies down.

“He was worried about his career while I was begging him to wash bottles?”

Nobody answered.

That afternoon, Rebecca helped me file for temporary custody arrangements and requested an investigation into the documents.

Vanessa agreed to cooperate with the authorities.

I returned to the apartment with Natalie.

For the first time in days, I allowed myself to cry.

Not because I wanted Garrett back.

But because I finally understood how much of my marriage had been built around protecting his comfort.

At 8:43 that evening, my phone rang.

Garrett.

I almost ignored it.

Then I answered.

“Emily.”

His voice sounded different.

Smaller.

“Where are the girls?”

“They’re safe.”

“Can I see them?”

“Not until we have a proper arrangement.”

He was silent.

Then he said, “I know about the lawyer.”

“Good.”

“Emily, there’s something you need to understand.”

“I understand enough.”

“No. You don’t.”

He took a shaky breath.

“My father knows where you are.”

I stood up.

“What?”

“He found the apartment.”

My eyes moved toward the window.

A dark sedan was parked across the street.

Its headlights were off.

Garrett continued.

“Please don’t go outside.”

I grabbed Natalie’s arm.

“Why?”

Garrett’s voice cracked.

“Because he knows Vanessa talked to you.”

Then I heard another voice behind him.

Richard.

“Give me the phone, son.”

There was a scuffle.

A door slammed.

And the call disconnected.

Three seconds later, someone knocked on my apartment door.

Three slow knocks.

Then a man’s voice called from the hallway.

“Mrs. Cole? We need to discuss your daughters.”

I froze.

Natalie picked up her phone and called the police.

I moved toward the bassinets.

And just as I reached for Sophie, I heard a familiar voice from the other side of the door.

“Emily, it’s me.”

Garrett.

But the next sentence made my blood run cold.

“Don’t open the door. The man standing beside me isn’t who he says he is.”