Chapter 8 - The DNA Results
Sophia spun around.
A nurse stood in the doorway.
At least, she wore a nurse's uniform.
Sophia had never seen her before.
The woman moved toward Grace's bassinet.
Sophia screamed.
Adrian came running.
The woman fled.
Hospital security caught her near the elevator.
She wasn't a nurse.
She had been paid cash.
By whom, she claimed not to know.
That ended any illusion that Eleanor's threats were psychological.
Sophia and the twins were moved to a secure private residence owned by Adrian's company.
Daniel objected only once.
Then he stopped.
“If that's where they're safest,” he said, “do it.”
Sophia noticed the change.
She didn't forgive him.
But she noticed.
Weeks passed.
Grace gained weight.
Noah developed an impressive talent for waking at 3:17 every morning.
Sophia healed slowly.
Adrian visited less frequently after she moved.
She finally asked why.
“Because you're vulnerable.”
“So?”
“And I'm not going to become another man who uses that.”
The answer stayed with her.
Daniel requested permission to see the twins.
Sophia eventually agreed.
Supervised.
The first visit lasted twenty minutes.
Daniel entered the room like a stranger.
Then Noah wrapped his tiny fingers around Daniel's index finger.
Daniel stopped breathing.
Sophia watched tears fill his eyes.
“I don't deserve him,” he whispered.
“No,” Sophia said.
Daniel looked at her.
“But he deserves a father who becomes better than the man who left that room.”
Daniel nodded.
It was not reconciliation.
It was a boundary.
And perhaps the beginning of accountability.
Meanwhile, police tightened the net around Eleanor.
Financial records led to a private airfield.
Security footage showed her boarding a plane.
But the aircraft never left.
Eleanor had switched vehicles.
Adrian realized why.
“She wants us looking outward.”
Sophia understood.
“Because she's still in New York.”
That night, Sophia received another message.
Not from Eleanor.
From Michael.
I know where she is.
Sophia called immediately.
No answer.
Then another message arrived.
DON'T TRUST VANESSA.
Sophia stared at the screen.
Vanessa had been beside her through everything.
She had exposed the documents.
Warned Sophia.
Helped protect the twins.
Sophia wanted to dismiss it.
Then she remembered something.
Only three people had known which hospital room Grace was in before the attempted abduction.
Sophia.
Adrian.
And Vanessa.
The front door opened downstairs.
Sophia heard Vanessa's voice.
May you like
“It's me.”
Then she heard the lock click behind her...
