Chapter 3
That evening, Alexander told me what his team had uncovered.
"Derek's company is hemorrhaging money. He's been borrowing against your old family estate — the one Vanessa inherited after your 'death.' They're three months from bankruptcy."
I stared at the documents spread across his desk.
"That's why he wants the girls," I realized. "He doesn't want them. He wants leverage over you."
Alexander nodded. "If he establishes paternity, he'll petition for custody. Then he'll offer to drop the case — for a price."
My stomach turned. "He would use his own children as bargaining chips?"
"He used you as one. Why not them?"
The truth of that settled like poison in my chest.
"There's more," Alexander said carefully. "Vanessa has been in contact with a lawyer. They're building a case that you abandoned the children — that you're an unfit mother because you faked your death and hid them."
"I didn't fake my death! They left me to—"
"I know." He took my hands. "I know. But there's no evidence of what happened that night. No witnesses. No recording. It's your word against theirs."
"So what do we do?"
Alexander's expression shifted — from husband to predator.
"We don't defend. We attack. Vanessa forged documents to claim your inheritance. Derek signed off on fraudulent death certificates. I've been building this case for two years, Lily. I was waiting for the right moment."
"And now?"
"Now they've given me one." He looked at me with an intensity that made my breath catch. "But I need you to trust me. No matter what happens in the next two weeks — trust me."
I nodded.
Before bed, I checked on the girls. Sophie was asleep, but Ellie was sitting up, her expression too serious for a five-year-old.
"Mommy, that man at school today. He's our real father, isn't he?"
My heart stopped.
"Why do you think that?"
"Sophie and I have green eyes. You have brown eyes. Daddy has blue eyes. That man had green eyes." She paused. "And he looked at us like he knew us."
I sat on her bed and pulled her close.
"Ellie, biology doesn't make someone a parent. Love does. Daddy Alexander chose you. Every single day, he chooses you."
"I know," she said. "I just want to know why our real father never came looking for us before."
I couldn't tell her the truth — that he thought we were dead, that he was the reason we almost were.
"Some people aren't ready to be parents, sweetheart."
"Well," Ellie said with the certainty only a child could have, "his loss."
I kissed her forehead and turned off the light, but sleep didn't come easily that night.
The next morning, Vanessa was waiting for me at the café downstairs.
"We need to talk, sister." She smiled — the same smile she wore the night she lured me to that cliff. "Before your husband does something we'll all regret."
"Derek's company is hemorrhaging money. He's been borrowing against your old family estate — the one Vanessa inherited after your 'death.' They're three months from bankruptcy."
I stared at the documents spread across his desk.
"That's why he wants the girls," I realized. "He doesn't want them. He wants leverage over you."
Alexander nodded. "If he establishes paternity, he'll petition for custody. Then he'll offer to drop the case — for a price."
My stomach turned. "He would use his own children as bargaining chips?"
"He used you as one. Why not them?"
The truth of that settled like poison in my chest.
"There's more," Alexander said carefully. "Vanessa has been in contact with a lawyer. They're building a case that you abandoned the children — that you're an unfit mother because you faked your death and hid them."
"I didn't fake my death! They left me to—"
"I know." He took my hands. "I know. But there's no evidence of what happened that night. No witnesses. No recording. It's your word against theirs."
"So what do we do?"
Alexander's expression shifted — from husband to predator.
"We don't defend. We attack. Vanessa forged documents to claim your inheritance. Derek signed off on fraudulent death certificates. I've been building this case for two years, Lily. I was waiting for the right moment."
"And now?"
"Now they've given me one." He looked at me with an intensity that made my breath catch. "But I need you to trust me. No matter what happens in the next two weeks — trust me."
I nodded.
Before bed, I checked on the girls. Sophie was asleep, but Ellie was sitting up, her expression too serious for a five-year-old.
"Mommy, that man at school today. He's our real father, isn't he?"
My heart stopped.
"Why do you think that?"
"Sophie and I have green eyes. You have brown eyes. Daddy has blue eyes. That man had green eyes." She paused. "And he looked at us like he knew us."
I sat on her bed and pulled her close.
"Ellie, biology doesn't make someone a parent. Love does. Daddy Alexander chose you. Every single day, he chooses you."
"I know," she said. "I just want to know why our real father never came looking for us before."
I couldn't tell her the truth — that he thought we were dead, that he was the reason we almost were.
"Some people aren't ready to be parents, sweetheart."
"Well," Ellie said with the certainty only a child could have, "his loss."
I kissed her forehead and turned off the light, but sleep didn't come easily that night.
The next morning, Vanessa was waiting for me at the café downstairs.
"We need to talk, sister." She smiled — the same smile she wore the night she lured me to that cliff. "Before your husband does something we'll all regret."