Chapter 3 - A Mother Knows a Lie“It's bait,” Ortiz said immediately.

“I know.”

I showed her the texts. We had no proof who held the phone now, only that Garrett had displayed it at the mansion. Ortiz photographed the messages, documented the number, and put in an urgent preservation request.

“Let me go,” I said. “I'll wear a wire.”

“No.”

“You don't understand how these people work.”

“I understand you almost confronted them alone. That is precisely why you're not going.”

The doctor who had operated on Chloe entered before I could argue. Dr. Thomas Miller was tired enough to look years older than he had that morning.

“Your daughter survived surgery,” he said. “Her condition is extremely serious, but one change matters. The fetal heartbeat is present.”

I pressed my palms to my face. There was no promise in his words, only a narrow opening where hope could fit.

“Can I see her?”

“For a few minutes.”

Chloe lay beneath a blanket, her face unfamiliar around the bruises and bandages. I smoothed a clean curl away from her forehead.

“You don't have to be brave anymore,” I whispered. “I should've come sooner.”

Her monitors kept their quiet rhythm. I told her about the first apartment we'd shared after her father died, about burning pancakes on Sundays, about the day she insisted a stray kitten was now a family member because it had followed us home.

“Remember?” I asked. “You named him Chairman Meow.”

A nurse gently asked me to give her room.

Outside the ICU, I found an elderly man standing beside the vending machines. His coat was soaked, and he held his cap in both hands.

“Mrs. Ward?” he asked. “I'm Theo Mercer. I take care of the Harrington grounds.”

Ortiz moved to my side. “How did you find us?”

Theo swallowed. “I heard what they did to Miss Chloe. I tried to stop it.”

“What did you see?” I asked.

His fingers twisted his cap. “I saw her being dragged from the house. I saw the car. And I saw something else nobody was supposed to see.”

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He looked straight at me.

“Your daughter isn't the first woman they've tried to erase.”