David stood there, his face twisted with rage.
“Looking for something?” he said.
I clutched the papers to my chest.
“Get out of my way,” I said.
Maria stepped out from behind him. She looked at the journal in my hand.
“Give that to me,” she said, reaching for it.
I stepped back, toward the window.
“These are going to the police,” I said. “Everything. The marriage. The forgeries. The lies.”
David took a step forward.
“You won’t make it to the gate.”
“I already sent copies,” I lied, my voice steady despite the terror. “To my father. To the lawyer. If I don’t come back… everything goes public.”
David hesitated.
Maria’s eyes flickered.
“You’re bluffing,” she said.
“Am I?” I said. “I’ve been gone all night. Do you honestly think I came alone?”
They exchanged a look.
David glanced at the window. At the dark driveway.
“Even if you have copies,” he said, “you still have nothing without Jacob. And you will never take him from us.”
“I don’t need to take him,” I said. “A judge will see the truth. Once they read this journal… once they see the marriage license… you will both go to prison.”
Maria laughed—a sharp, bitter sound.
“Prison? We have witnesses. We have statements. We have a judge who owes David a favor. By the time anyone reads those papers… we will have already filed the adoption. And you… you will be in a psychiatric ward.”
She stepped closer.
“Hand them over, Elena. Or things will get very messy.”
I looked at the window behind me. It was locked.
I looked at the door. Blocked.
I was trapped.
Then I heard it.
A car pulling up outside.
Headlights swept across the curtains.
David and Maria stiffened.
“Who is that?” Maria whispered.
Footsteps up the front steps.
A firm, heavy knock.
Then my father’s voice, clear and strong through the wood:
“Elena? Are you in there?”
Relief washed over me so strongly my knees nearly gave out.
David’s face darkened.
Maria grabbed his arm.
“Get rid of them,” she hissed. “Hide the papers. Say she’s not here.”
David turned back to me, his voice low and furious.
“Go upstairs. Now. If you say one word… I will say you broke in and threatened us. And they will believe me.”
The knocking came again.
“David! Open up! We know she’s inside!”
David shot me one last warning look.
Then he turned and walked out of the study, closing the door behind him.
I stood there, papers in hand, listening through the wood.
David opened the front door.
“Evening,” he said, his voice perfectly calm. “What can I do for you?”
“Where is my daughter?” my father demanded.
“I haven’t seen her,” David said smoothly. “She left yesterday. I assumed she went to you.”
“Liar!” I screamed, throwing the study door open. “I’m here! And I have proof of everything!”
David spun around, his face white.
Maria stood in the hallway behind him, her eyes wide with panic.
I walked out of the study, papers held high.
“These are their marriage documents,” I said, stepping past David toward the front door. “And Maria’s own journal. It contains every single plan they made. To defraud me. To steal my son. To poison me and lock me away!”
My father stepped forward and took my arm.
“Come, Elena. We have what we need.”
But before we could step outside… David lunged.
He grabbed my wrist and wrenched the papers from my grasp.
“Run!” I screamed.
My father pulled me free.
But David was already tearing the marriage license into pieces.
