Chapter 4 - A MOTHER'S INSTINCT
Cornered and facing total ruin, Derek lost his mind completely. Desperate to force my hand, he devised one final, catastrophic scheme to strike back.
Three days later, I received a frantic call from the triplets' international preschool.
"Ms. Vance! I am so sorry," the headmistress sobbed over the line. "A man claiming to be the children's father presented old birth certificates and legal paperwork... he bypassed security and took Ethan!"
My heart stopped. The coffee cup slipped from my fingers, shattering on the floor.
"What?!" I screamed. "I gave explicit instructions that no one except Julian or me could pick them up!"
"He threatened legal action and created a distraction... he grabbed Ethan and sped away!"
Dread consumed me. I rushed out of the office, calling Julian through blinding tears. "Julian! Derek... he took Ethan! He's completely lost it!"
"Clara, breathe," Julian’s steady voice grounded me instantly. "I placed a tiny GPS tracker inside the kids' backpack badges last week. I am tracking his location right now. Stay where you are; I'm picking you up in two minutes."
Moments later, Julian’s car pulled up. I jumped into the passenger seat, my body trembling violently.
On Julian's tablet screen, a red pulsing dot was moving rapidly toward an abandoned industrial port on the southern edge of San Francisco.
"What does he want?" I wept. "He never cared for Ethan! He never held him once!"
Julian squeezed my icy hand tightly. "He wants to leverage Ethan to force you to drop the financial fraud evidence and stop the federal investigation. But I promise you, Clara, on my life, no one will harm your son."
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Julian's unwavering confidence reanchored me. I wiped my tears, letting maternal instinct overpower my fear. I was no longer the helpless woman crying by a window three years ago.
It was time to protect my child.
