LOGINNick's POV When the social worker finished the sentence about the "current court order," something primal rose in me. An instinct to grab my daughter and disappear. Martina made a soft, broken sound. Gwen went completely still, her hand resting over her stomach, like her body had absorbed the blow before her mind did. Bella was wrapped around my legs, her face buried in my pants like I was the only safe place left in the world. I ran my hand through her hair slowly, repeating "I'm here" more for myself than for her, because I needed to remember I could still stand upright. She lifted her tear-soaked face and looked at me with a clarity no child should have. "I don't want to go," she whispered. The words hit me like something solid. The man with the folder shuffled his papers. "Mr. Valemont—" "I understand," I cut in, without raising my voice. "I just need a minute." I crouched down to Bella's level. "Princess…" I said, and it took everything in me not to let the w
Gwen's POV The coffee still tasted bitter going down when I opened the first tag. The page loaded with one of those layouts that pretended to be journalism but ran on the same fuel as gossip. Certainty without proof. Assumptions dressed up as facts. I skimmed fast, scanning the damage. [COO of Kensington Valentia Involved in Child Kidnapping] I scrolled. [Sources close to the biological mother…] [Experts say cases like this often involve parental alienation…] [Gwen allegedly manipulated the child into rejecting her mother…] Manipulated? I read it again to make sure that was really the word. The narrative was neat. Gwen, billionaire, calculating, pregnant, jealous of the ex-wife. I scrolled further. [Suspiciously, amid the disappearance, the executive was the only one who 'intuitively' knew where to look…] [After the public commotion, she positioned herself as the savior…] And then the line meant to slice clean through: [It is difficult to believe that, wit
Gwen's POV The drive back to Florentia felt fast. Bella was in the backseat, clutching a pillow like something soft could convince the world to be less hard. Nick drove with both hands tight on the wheel, his entire body still locked in alert mode. I sat in the passenger seat with my phone in my hand and my mind split in two places: here, under the seatbelt… and back there, in the sentence I had murmured to the police officer. Strange men. I kept repeating it in my head, trying to figure out which drawer it belonged in. What kind of strange? What kind of men? What kind of visits? I glanced in the rearview mirror. Bella was asleep, mouth slightly open, exhausted from being brave all day. Her hair stuck to her forehead, and there was a faint smudge of dried gelato on the corner of her shirt. Nick caught my look. "She asleep?" he asked, without taking his eyes off the road. "She's asleep," I said. He exhaled slowly, like it was the first real breath he'd taken in hou
Nick's POV When we stepped out of the barrel cellar, the late afternoon air hit my face like I'd just come up from underwater. Bella was in my arms, clinging to me the way children cling when the world turns dangerous. Her face was pressed into my neck, her small hands fisted in my shirt like I was a wall. I didn't have the strength to ask her to let go. I didn't want to. In the courtyard, the lights were already on. The sun had fully dropped, leaving that last stretch of day that looks like the end of a movie. Except no movie ends with paperwork waiting in the middle of your property. The police were still there. Two men with the posture of people who do this every day. Clipboards. Phones. Authority filling the space. When they saw me, both moved at the same time. "Mr. Valemont," the older one said. His tone was neutral. Not aggressive. Not kind. "Is the child all right?" "She is," I answered. Bella lifted her face just enough to glance at them, then buried it in
"Gwen?" Her voice was small, coming from deep inside the cellar, like she was afraid even the echo might scold her. "Are you sick? You screamed." I froze for a second. It was like my brain had forgotten how the world worked. Bella was standing there, half-hidden behind a row of barrels, her backpack still on her shoulders, her face smudged with the kind of dirt you get from trying to be brave all day. Her eyes were too big, too alert for a child. "Bella!" The word tore out of me, raw with relief. I ran to her. The stone floor was cold and damp, but I didn't feel any of it. All I felt was the weight of panic cracking open when I reached her and wrapped my arms around that small body so tightly I scared myself. "Oh my God…" I whispered into her hair, like I needed to confirm she was real. "Oh my God, sweetheart…" She went stiff for half a second, then her arms locked around me with a strength that didn't match her size. I swallowed back a sob. "Everyone's been so wo
Gwen's POV When I stepped out to the outer wing of the estate, the air felt colder than it had minutes before. The sun was sinking behind the vineyards, washing everything in a glow I would normally call beautiful. Tonight it felt like mockery. Nick stood in the courtyard a few yards ahead, speaking to two police officers. I recognized his posture from a distance. Body steady. Head slightly inclined. The stance of a man answering questions while trying not to shake. He barely gestured. He handed over details like he was building a map. I paused in the doorway and watched for a second. I could cross the courtyard. Interrupt. Say what I was thinking. "I know where Bella might be." I could. But the sentence, in my head, came with an invisible warning. Might. It was just a theory. A guess built on a detail. Offering hope without certainty felt wrong. Worse than wrong. Cruel. And there was something else. That conversation with the police could take time. They woul
Annabelle's POV "Obviously, I'm the fun aunt," I declared solemnly, shaking a colorful rattle in front of Matt's curious little face. "Look at that smile! He loves me already." "Please," Gwen shot back with a laugh, leaning over the portable crib we'd set up in the living room. "He was smiling a
Annabelle's POV I found out Elise was still in the hospital by accident. I was walking down the corridor when I overheard two nurses talking about a blonde patient in room 304 who was being "difficult." One of them said the name Elise, and my blood boiled. While Zoey was meeting Matt for the fir
Annabelle's POV I had never seen Christian like that before. He sat in the waiting room chair with his head in his hands, sobbing like his whole world had collapsed. And maybe it had. Maybe ours had too. My sister was behind those doors, fighting for her life, and I couldn't do a damn thing t
Christian's POV The second day after Zoey woke was completely different from the first. She opened her eyes around eight in the morning, and for the first time in a week, they were clear and focused on me. "Hey," I said softly, leaning closer. She tried to respond. Her lips moved, her throat w







