Chapter 3 - THE MAN WHO WANTED MY DAUGHTERI woke beneath fluorescent hospital lights.
My abdomen burned.
My lips were cracked.
My entire body felt like it had been assembled from broken pieces.
"My baby?"
The nurse smiled.
"She's fighting."
That was enough to make me cry.
Then the nurse hesitated.
"There's someone here."
I knew before she said his name.
"Julian."
He entered wearing the same suit he'd worn to the baby shower.
Only now it was stained, wrinkled, and covered in fear.
"You destroyed my family," he whispered.
I stared at him.
"You punched your pregnant wife."
"I lost control."
"You brought your mistress to our baby's shower."
"Chloe manipulated me."
"You tried to replace me."
He stepped closer.
I flinched.
He stopped.
Then his expression hardened.
"You're not taking my daughter away."
I laughed bitterly.
"You don't even know her."
"She's mine."
"She's not a weapon."
His eyes changed.
"By tomorrow, a judge will decide that."
He leaned toward me.
"My lawyers have already filed for emergency custody."
My blood ran cold.
"You wouldn't."
"I'll do anything."
He walked toward the door.
Then turned.
"Try not to look unstable when the social worker comes."
The door closed.
That evening, the social worker arrived.
She was calm.
Professional.
And terrifying.
"Mr. Vance claims you have a history of instability."
I stared at her.
Then at the tiny hospital crib visible through the glass.
My daughter was fighting for every breath.
And I was fighting for her future.
The social worker closed her folder.
"You need support, Clara."
"I have nobody."
She looked at me.
"Then you need to find somebody."
That night, I stared at a phone number I hadn't called in ten years.
My father's number.
Marcus Hale.
Billionaire.
Industrialist.
The man I had run away from because his power terrified me.
My hand shook as I pressed CALL.
Three rings.
Then his voice.
"Clara."
I broke.
"Daddy... they're trying to take my baby."
Silence.
Then his voice became ice.
"Who?"
"Julian Vance."
Another silence.
"Give me twenty minutes."
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Then:
"Nobody takes a Hale baby."
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