Chapter 3
The next hour was a blur of police lights, shouting officers, yellow crime scene tape strung across my front yard, neighbors standing on their porches in their pajamas, whispering, staring.
Rosa was taken to the hospital, awake by the time the ambulance got there, crying, saying she’d been hit from behind by a woman in black, that she’d tried to fight, that she was sorry, so sorry, she’d failed me.
I told her it wasn’t her fault.
Held her hand while they put her in the ambulance.
But inside, I was breaking apart.
Lily was gone.
Helen had her.
The detective in charge was a good man—one I’d vetted months ago, one who owed my father a favor, one who couldn’t be bought by Julian or Helen.
He’d put out an Amber Alert within five minutes of arriving.
Every cop in the state was looking for her.
Every highway patrol car.
Every airport.
Every train station.
But I knew Helen.
She wouldn’t take her out of the city.
Too risky.
Too easy to get caught.
She’d hide her somewhere close.
Somewhere I’d never think to look.
Somewhere she could use her to break me.
My phone rang at five a.m., just as the sun was coming up, the board meeting three hours away.
Unknown number.
I answered before the first ring finished.
“Helen,” I said, my voice raw. “If you’ve hurt one hair on her head—”
“Relax, Iris,” her voice came, cool, amused, like we were talking about the weather. “She’s fine. Eating pancakes. Watching cartoons. She asked for you, of course. Cried a little. But I told her Mommy was busy being a liar in court, and that I was her new mommy now. She’ll get used to it. Kids are resilient, you know.”
My blood turned to ice.
“What do you want, Helen?” I said. “Name your price. Money. The company. Anything. Just give me back my daughter.”
She laughed.
A soft, cold sound.
“Anything?” she said. “How sweet. But I don’t want your money, Iris. I don’t want your little shell companies or your hidden bank accounts. I want everything. I want you to walk into that board meeting today. I want you to publicly withdraw all your charges against Julian. I want you to sign over every single share you own in Vance Industries and Langford Group to me. I want you to get on a plane and leave the country. And I want you to sign full legal custody of Lily over to me. Permanently. No visits. No calls. Nothing. If you do all that… I’ll leave her on your front porch by noon. Unharmed. If you don’t… well. You know what Julian is like when he doesn’t get what he wants. And he’s very angry at you right now. Even from jail.”
I closed my eyes, my hand shaking so hard I almost dropped the phone.
She knew.
She knew about the shares.
Knew about Elias.
Knew about Arthur and Marcus.
Someone had talked.
Someone on the inside.
“You have until eight a.m.,” she said. “The second the board meeting starts, if I haven’t received the signed documents from your lawyer… I’ll send Julian a photo. And you know what he’ll do. Even from jail. He has people. People who owe him favors. People who will do anything for money. Don’t test me, Iris. You know I don’t bluff.”
She hung up.
I stood there in my empty kitchen, the police moving around me, the detective asking me who it was, what they’d said, and I couldn’t speak.
I had three hours.
Three hours to choose.
Give up everything my father had built.
Give up every bit of justice I’d spent three years fighting for.
Let Julian walk free.
Let Helen win.
Or lose Lily forever.
Elias showed up ten minutes later, his face tight when he saw me.
I told him what Helen had said.
Every word.
He paced the kitchen, running his hands through his hair.
“We can trace the call,” he said. “We can—”
“No,” I said. “She’s too smart. She’ll be using a burner. Routing through ten different towers. By the time we find her, it’ll be too late. And she’s right. Julian does have people. If I don’t do what she says, she will hurt Lily. I know she will.”
“So you’re just gonna give her everything?” Elias said, stopping in front of me. “After three years? After everything you went through? All the scars? All the nights you cried yourself to sleep? All the kids you helped with the foundation? All of it, just gone? Because she kidnapped your daughter?”
“I don’t have a choice, Elias!” I shouted, then lowered my voice, the police looking over at us. “She has Lily. She’s seven years old. She’s scared. She’s alone with that woman. I can’t risk her. Not for anything. Not for the company. Not for justice. Not for my father’s memory. None of it matters if she’s not here.”
Elias stared at me for a long time.
Then he nodded, slow.
“Okay,” he said. “We’ll do it your way. But we’re not giving up. I have a team tracking her. Every camera in the city. Every cell tower. Every hotel. Every rental property Helen or Julian owns. We will find her, Iris. I promise you. Even if we have to search every building in this state. We will find her.”
He pulled the documents out of his bag, the ones Helen had demanded.
Transfer of shares.
Dropping of charges.
Custody papers.
I stared at them.
My whole life, right there on a few pieces of paper.
I picked up the pen.
And I signed.
Every last page.
Elias took them, his face like stone.
“I’ll get these to her,” he said. “But I’m telling you now. The second Lily is safe in your arms? We burn her to the ground. Every lie. Every crime. Every secret. I don’t care if it takes ten years. We end her. Clear?”
“Clear,” I said.
The board meeting started at eight a.m. sharp.
I walked in ten minutes late, my face blank, my eyes red, no coat this time, just a simple black dress, the signed documents in my hand.
The room went quiet when I walked in.
Helen was sitting at the head of the table, in the CEO chair, wearing a sharp gray suit, her hair pulled back tight, a small, satisfied smile on her face when she saw me.
The three board members who were hers nodded at me, smug.
Arthur and Marcus sat on the other side, their faces confused, worried, wondering why I was there, why I looked like I’d lost the only thing that mattered.
“Nice of you to join us, Iris,” Helen said, her voice loud, clear, for everyone to hear. “I was just telling the board about your… unfortunate situation. About how the stress of the divorce has clearly gotten to you. About how you’ve decided to step away from all business matters, for the good of the company. And how you’ve generously signed over all your shares to me. Isn’t that right?”
She held out her hand.
I walked to the head of the table.
I handed her the envelope.
She opened it, flipping through the pages, her smile getting wider with every signature she saw.
“Perfect,” she said, holding them up for the board to see. “All signed. All legal. As of this moment, I am the majority shareholder of Vance Industries and Langford Group. And I am hereby appointing myself permanent CEO. All in favor?”
Her three votes raised their hands.
Arthur and Marcus looked at me, confused, waiting for me to do something.
To fight.
To scream.
To reveal something.
I just stood there, staring at Helen, my face blank.
“Opposed?” Helen said, laughing a little.
Arthur and Marcus slowly raised their hands.
“Two opposed, four in favor,” Helen said, banging a gavel she’d found somewhere on the table. “Motion carried. Now, if you’ll all excuse me, I have a press conference in ten minutes. And Iris? You can show yourself out. And don’t come back. Security will escort you if you need help.”
I didn’t move.
I just stood there, looking at her.
“Did you get what you wanted, Helen?” I said, my voice quiet, but carrying to every corner of the room. “Everything you ever dreamed of. My husband’s company. My father’s legacy. My life. Is it enough? Will it ever be enough?”
Her smile faltered for half a second.
“Get out,” she said, her voice colder now.
“I’m going,” I said. “But remember this. Everything you have right now? You stole it. Every dollar. Every share. Every bit of power. And stolen things never last. You’ll see. Soon enough.”
I turned and walked out.
The press was waiting in the lobby, shouting questions, cameras flashing.
I didn’t say a word.
I just walked through them, out to my car, Elias waiting for me behind the wheel.
“Any sign of her?” I said, the second the door closed.
“One,” Elias said, pulling out into traffic. “We got a partial plate on a black SUV leaving your street at three forty-five a.m. Matches one registered to a shell company Helen owns. It was spotted entering the old Vance textile factory on the east side at four ten a.m. The one Julian closed five years ago. The one no one ever goes to. SWAT is on the way. We’re five minutes out.”
I gripped the door handle so tight my fingers hurt.
The old factory.
I knew it.
My father had built it.
Julian had closed it, put two hundred people out of work, stripped the equipment, left it to rot.
Of course Helen would hide there.
It was perfect.
Abandoned.
Isolated.
Full of empty rooms.
We pulled up to the factory three minutes later, the SWAT vans already there, officers in black gear moving into position, guns raised.
The lead detective came over to the car.
“We have movement on the thermal cameras,” he said. “Two people on the third floor. One small. One adult. No sign of weapons yet. We’re going in now. Stay here. We’ll bring her out to you.”
I nodded, but I was already out of the car, following them, Elias right behind me.
We moved through the broken front doors, the air smelling of dust and rust and old oil, the sound of our boots echoing off the concrete walls.
Up the stairs.
First floor.
Second.
Third.
The detective held up a fist, stopping us.
He pointed to a door at the end of the hall.
Voices inside.
A woman’s voice.
Sharp.
Angry.
And a small, crying voice.
Lily.
“I want my mommy!”
“Shut up, you little brat! Your mommy doesn’t want you anymore! She gave you to me! She signed the papers! Now be quiet before I give you something to really cry about!”
I didn’t wait for SWAT.
I ran.
Down the hall.
Shoulder first into the door.
It burst open.
The room was empty except for an old mattress in the corner.
Lily was sitting on it, her face streaked with tears, her hands tied together with rope, her favorite rabbit on the floor beside her.
Helen was standing over her, her hand raised, about to slap her.
She turned when I burst in, her eyes wide, shocked.
“LILY!” I screamed, running to her, dropping to my knees, cutting the rope off her hands with my keys, pulling her into my arms so tight I thought I’d break her.
She sobbed into my chest, screaming “Mommy! Mommy! I knew you’d come!” over and over.
Helen stood frozen for half a second, then turned and ran for the back window, climbing out onto the fire escape before anyone could grab her.
SWAT ran past us, chasing her.
I didn’t care.
I just held Lily, rocking her, kissing her face, her hair, her hands, checking her over and over for injuries, thanking god she was okay, she was alive, she was mine.
The detective came over a minute later, his face tight.
“She got away,” he said. “Car was waiting. We’re chasing her now. But she’s gone. For now.”
I nodded, still holding Lily.
It didn’t matter.
Helen had the company.
She had the money.
She had the power.
But she didn’t have the one thing that mattered most.
I looked down at Lily, asleep in my arms, exhausted from crying, her face pressed into my shoulder.
I had her.
And that was all I needed.
Because Helen had made a mistake.
A big one.
She’d thought taking Lily would break me.
But she’d just done the opposite.
She’d woken up every bit of the woman my father had raised.
The woman who’d spent ten years being abused, being quiet, being the good wife.
That woman was gone.
And the woman who’d taken her place?
She was going to burn Helen’s whole world to the ground.
Every last bit of it.
Elias leaned down, his voice quiet in my ear.
“The press conference is starting in five minutes,” he said. “Helen is gonna announce she’s CEO. She’s gonna tell the whole world she won. What do you want to do?”
I smiled.
May you like
A cold, sharp smile.
“Get me to that press conference,” I said. “Now.”
