Chapter 4

With a loud bang, the door burst open.

Uncle Roberto straightened the cuff of his custom-tailored suit and strode into the bedroom first, with Aunt Matilda following close behind, while Mom and Victoria brought up the rear.

The sudden rush of light flooded the dim bedroom, stinging my eyes so badly I could barely keep them open.

"Oh! Good heavens!" Aunt Matilda pinched her nose. "How can anyone raise a baby in conditions like these?"

The room wasn't actually dirty. It just didn't meet the kind of picture-perfect home standards that Victoria maintained with the high-end housekeeping staff she employed year-round.

"Give Lily to me," Uncle Roberto demanded as he came straight toward me.

"Don't touch her!" I pulled away from him, keeping Lily's face buried against the crook of my neck.

"Give me the child."

Uncle Roberto took another step toward me, his hands already reaching out.

"She's my daughter."

"Who do you think you're negotiating with? Stop being so damn stubborn, Emilia, and hand her over."

I clutched Lily tighter and took a step back.

"You ungrateful brat!" Aunt Matilda snapped, rushing forward and grabbing my arm. "What's wrong with your elders wanting to hold the baby?"

At Aunt Matilda's signal, Uncle Roberto seized my shoulder from the other side. He twisted my left arm behind my back, nearly dislocating it.

Taking advantage of the situation, Aunt Matilda roughly reached into my arms to yank Lily away. Her fingernails scraped across Lily's cheek, leaving a red scratch that immediately began to bleed.

A piercing, heart-wrenching cry tore out of Lily.

The last shred of my sanity snapped.

I whipped my head around and bit down hard on the hand Uncle Roberto had clamped down on my shoulder.

"Ah! Damn it!" he screamed.

He immediately jerked his hand back, then shoved me hard. "Hold her down! She's lost her mind!"

I crashed backward onto the bed. Desperate to protect Lily, my back took the full impact of the fall as I slammed right into the hard wooden bedframe, and the blinding pain turned my vision black for a second.

Lily was crying so hard she could barely catch her breath, and her tiny face was flushed bright red.

I clutched her tightly against my chest and gently patted her, my voice trembling.

"Mommy's here. You're okay, sweetheart… Mommy's here…"

Mom rushed forward, looking utterly heartbroken.

"What on earth are you doing, Emilia? Biting people like a rabid dog and terrifying the baby like this? Is that any way for a mother to behave?"

She turned to Victoria.

"Quick, take the baby away from her!"

Victoria strode over and reached for Lily. Clutching my daughter, I shrank toward the corner of the room, but my back was soon pressed against the wall. There was nowhere left to run.

Just as Victoria was about to touch Lily, a knock sounded at the door.

"Police! Open up!"

Victoria's hand froze in midair. She whipped around to look at Mom, whose eyes flickered with a brief flash of panic.

After a moment's hesitation, Mom walked over and opened the door.

Two police officers stood outside, with a social worker from Child Protective Services behind them.

"What's going on here?"

The lead officer surveyed the chaos in the room before fixing his gaze on me—disheveled and slumped on the bed.

"Officers, this is all just a misunderstanding. It's just a family dispute," Uncle Roberto interjected quickly. "My niece has been suffering from severe postpartum mental health issues. She lost control of her emotions, and we just came over to help out."

The officer frowned and glanced around at the impeccably dressed people crowding the room.

"Who called the police?"

The room fell silent for a second. Then, Alexander stepped into the room from behind the officers.

Victoria's shoulders visibly relaxed.

"I made the call, Officer," Alexander said, stepping forward and handing the officer his business card.

"I'm the baby's uncle by marriage. The child's mother is currently experiencing a severe episode of postpartum depression and exhibiting signs of strong violent tendencies. For the baby's safety, we had no choice but to take some forceful measures earlier."

"Do you have legal authorization or medical documentation to support that?" the officer asked.

"Right here."

Alexander pulled an assessment report from his briefcase and handed it over.

"This is an assessment conducted by a psychiatric specialist, recommending immediate separation of the mother and child. Furthermore…"

He paused, his voice solemn and heavy. "We suspect she's been abusing the baby."

My whole body went rigid.

Alexander pulled a photo from his pocket and handed it over. "We took this yesterday. There are large areas of redness, swelling, and broken skin around the baby's neck and under her arms."

Redness and swelling.

Yesterday, when Victoria first came to the apartment, she had forcibly dressed Lily in a cashmere onesie. The neckline was far too tight, and in less than half an hour, the fabric had chafed Lily's neck and armpits raw and red.

By the time I rushed over to pull it off her, Lily was already drenched in sweat from crying so hard.

Victoria had just stood by at the time, frowning and saying, "She's way too fragile."

And now, they were using those very injuries as evidence of me abusing Lily.

The police officers' brows furrowed as they studied the photos. Then, they started walking toward me.

"Ms. Bellini, for the child's safety, we need to separate you two for observation first. Please cooperate."

What a perfect excuse to steal my child.

Behind them, Aunt Matilda let out a quiet, mocking laugh.

"Now that the police and Child Protective Services are involved, let's see what other tricks this lunatic can pull."

Victoria stood behind Alexander, the corners of her mouth curling into a faint smile, while Mom approached the officers, her voice pitched with just the right amount of sorrow.

"As you can see for yourselves, Officers, my daughter has completely lost her mind. She went crazy earlier and bit her uncle, and she nearly hurt her aunt too. Look at how she's trashed the room. We're genuinely afraid to leave the baby with her!"

When she finished, every eye in the room turned toward me, as if they were looking at a lunatic about to be institutionalized.

I drew a deep breath. When a tear fell onto the back of my hand, I finally stopped trembling, and I raised my head. All that remained on my face was a cold, steady calm.

"Officers," I said icily. "Everything that just happened here was in self-defense."

"Emilia."

Alexander stepped forward.

"The more you try to defend yourself right now, the more you prove how seriously ill you are," he said, waving the psychiatric assessment report in his hand. "Behave and cooperate with the police. Don't make this any uglier than it needs to be."

Silence fell over the room, and everyone's eyes remained fixed on me.

I looked up, staring straight at Alexander. Then, I slowly lifted my phone.

The screen was lit, and a voice recording app was running.

"Alexander," I said, holding his gaze. "Why don't we let the police hear exactly what went down in this room, from beginning to end?"

For the first time, Victoria's expression changed.