Chapter 3 - The Alliance of the Outcast“You drive like a getaway criminal,” Leah gasped, clutching her baby close as the car merged onto the highway, weaving recklessly through afternoon traffic.
Simone didn't blink. She kept her eyes fixed on the road, tapping long, manicured acrylic nails against the steering wheel. “Honey, if you knew half the things my family tried to pin on me, you’d realize driving fast is the only way to stay alive in our tax bracket.”
Leah looked down at her sleeping son, then back at the stranger who had just saved her from being institutionalized and having her child ripped from her arms. “Why did you help me? You barely spoke to me in the ward.”
“I hate bullies, and I especially hate rich, manipulative monsters who think money buys human lives,” Simone said flatly, her voice hardening with personal venom. “Doreen Sterling is a ruthless vulture. She sits on half the hospital boards in this state. She thinks she owns Briar Glen, and she certainly thought she could use it to steal your baby. Do you have any idea why she targeted you specifically?”
“Because she thinks I’m mentally unstable,” Leah said bitterly.
“No, sweetie. People like Doreen don’t destroy lives over convenience; they do it for control—or secrets,” Simone corrected, steering the car down an exit ramp toward an industrial part of the city. “Your mother-in-law isn’t just a rich socialite. Before she married into wealth, her family was tied up in a massive adoption scandal in the nineties involving high-paying private clients. Look familiar?”
Simone tossed a thick manila folder onto Leah’s lap.
Leah’s fingers trembled as she opened it. Inside were old newspaper clippings, birth certificates, and financial wire transfers dating back twenty-five years. A cold dread washed over her. The name at the center of the documents wasn’t just Doreen—it was tied directly to Nathan’s deceased father, and to a series of missing medical records from Briar Glen Maternity Pavilion.
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“What is this?” Leah whispered.
“It’s the reason your husband is so weak-willed, and the reason your baby is worth millions to them on the black market of elite adoptions,” Simone said grimly. “They didn't just want your child. They needed to erase you to cover up a legacy of stolen children.”
