Chapter 3 - Before Delivery
The hospital room smelled like antiseptic and rain.
Sienna lay propped against white pillows while monitors traced the baby's heartbeat in steady green lines.
Dr. Patel had confirmed her water had not broken. Stress had triggered contractions, but the baby was stable.
For now.
Nico stood by the window with Mila asleep against his chest.
Someone had found a soft knit cap to cover her uneven hair.
"Dad," Sienna said, "you need to put her down. Your back is going to hate you tomorrow."
"My back can file a complaint."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize to me."
"I should have told you."
Nico lowered his voice. "Yes. You should have. But I'm not going to make you pay for being afraid."
"If I tell them everything, Gavin will say I'm unstable. He already started building that story."
"What story?"
"That pregnancy made me paranoid. That I was confused about money. That I yelled in front of Mila. He took videos when I cried after he cornered me. Only the crying. Never what happened before it."
"How long?"
"About five months."
"Why?"
"Because I found something in the quarterly reports."
Sienna had worked in Ferrante Group's compliance division before going on maternity leave. She was better with numbers than most of his senior executives.
"What did you find?"
"Payments to a vendor called Northline Civil Consulting. The invoices were approved through Gavin's division."
"Northline is legitimate."
"It was. Until eighteen months ago. The original owner died. The company was dissolved."
"We're still paying them."
"Exactly."
"How much?"
"Almost four million dollars."
"I traced part of it to a holding company in Delaware. I couldn't identify the owner. Two days later Gavin asked why I was digging into vendor records. I never told him."
"Then someone inside accounting warned him."
"Yes."
"What happened after that?"
"He became sweet. Too sweet. Flowers, dinners, apologies for being distant. Then he started asking about the children's trust."
The Ferrante family trust protected Sienna and her children. Gavin had no direct access.
"He wanted you to change it."
"He wanted me to sign a durable financial power of attorney. He said it would make things easier after the baby came."
Nico understood the text on the burner phone.
"Did you sign anything?"
"No."
Detective Elena Park stepped inside holding an evidence bag.
"Mr. Ferrante," she said, "we need to talk about the messages on this device."
"Mrs. Cole, one message mentions medication. Another mentions your scheduled induction."
"What medication?"
The detective hesitated.
"The sender wrote, 'Make sure she gets the full dose before the notary arrives.'"
Sienna went completely pale.
May you like
Then Mila stirred in Nico's arms and whispered in her sleep.
"Mommy didn't drink the purple juice."
