I hadn’t left our bed for three days. My millionaire husband ripped off the blanket looking for a lover—then found his family’s buried secret.

Our daughter, Mia Rose Carter, was born three months later.

Seven pounds, two ounces.

Ten perfect fingers, ten perfect toes.

A head full of dark hair, just like her dad.

She was perfect.

Healthy.

Strong.

The doctor said she was one of the most alert babies he’d ever delivered.

Liam cried when he held her for the first time.

He sat on the hospital bed, her tiny body in his big hands, and just sobbed.

“I’ll never let anyone hurt you,” he whispered to her, over and over.

“Never. I promise.”

We brought her home a week later.

The house was ready.

The nursery was painted soft yellow, with a mobile of stars above the crib.

Liam had put a security camera in the corner, so we could watch her sleep from anywhere in the house.

Hale came to visit the first day, bringing Mia a tiny silver rattle that had been his granddaughter’s when she was a baby.

Our doctor came, too, with a stack of parenting books and a teddy bear.

Our closest friends brought food and flowers, cooing over Mia, telling us how beautiful she was.

That night, after everyone left, Liam and I sat on the couch in the living room.

Mia was asleep in my arms, her little chest rising and falling, her hand curled around my finger.

Liam wrapped his arm around both of us, pulling us close.

The fire was crackling in the fireplace.

Outside, the stars were bright.

“I’m so sorry,” Liam said, quiet.

He kissed the top of my head.

“For everything. For doubting you. For not protecting you. For letting them hurt you. I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you. Both of you.”

I looked up at him.

I touched his face, tracing the scar on his jaw he’d gotten fighting Jason in the garage.

“I forgive you,” I said.

I meant it.

Completely.

“We went through hell, Liam. But we came out the other side. We have each other. We have Mia. That’s all that matters.”

He leaned down, kissed me soft.

Mia stirred in my arms, let out a tiny coo, and went back to sleep.

I looked down at her.

At her perfect, peaceful face.

I thought about everything we’d been through.

The poison.

The lies.

The fear.

The trial.

All of it had led to this.

To this perfect moment.

Margaret was in prison, where she’d stay until she died.

Jason was in prison, too, with decades left on his sentence.

They could never hurt us again.

Never hurt Mia.

The estate was ours, but we didn’t care about the money.

We’d already started a foundation in Thomas Carter’s name, to help women and children who’d survived domestic violence and abuse.

We wanted to turn all that pain into something good.

Liam stood up, gently took Mia from my arms, and carried her up to the nursery.

I followed, leaning against the doorframe, watching him tuck her into the crib.

He stood there for a long time, just watching her sleep.

Then he turned, took my hand, and led me back downstairs.

We went out onto the back porch.

The air was warm, smelling like jasmine from the bushes along the fence.

Liam pulled me into his arms, swaying slowly to music only he could hear.

“Remember when we first met?” he said, smiling.

“You spilled coffee all over my suit at that real estate conference. I was so mad. Then you looked up at me with those big eyes, and I forgot all about it. I knew right then I was gonna marry you.”

I laughed, resting my head on his chest.

“I remember,” I said.

“I thought you were the most arrogant man I’d ever met. Then you bought me a new coffee, and I thought… maybe he’s not so bad.”

He kissed me again.

Deep.

Slow.

Full of all the love and fear and hope we’d shared over the last year.

“I love you,” he said.

“More than anything. More than the estate. More than money. More than life itself.”

“I love you too,” I said.

I looked up at the stars, then back at the house, where our daughter was sleeping safe and sound.

For the first time in my life, I felt completely safe.