Chapter 5 - The Empty CribDaniel stood frozen in the center of the foyer, the cold steel handcuffs dangling menacingly from Officer Miller’s hand, his mind refusing to process the words echoing in the hallway.
"No... no, wait," Daniel stammered, holding up his hands as if to ward off an invisible blow. "This is absurd. Grace, tell them to stop this! Drop the charges, we can talk about this like adults, we can go to counseling—"
"Counseling?" I cut him off, my voice dripping with ice. "You don't counsel a parasite, Daniel. You exterminate it."
Celeste, realizing her own social and financial survival was instantly evaporating, pushed past Daniel into the foyer, her eyes wide with panic. "Grace, listen to me! This is all a misunderstanding! Daniel and I were just—we were discussing business networking, nothing happened, you’re blowing this completely out of proportion—"
Marcus Vance stepped forward from the shadows of the staircase, a thin, predatory smile playing on his lips.
"Ms. Celeste Vance," Marcus said smoothly, his eyes narrowing on her designer handbag. "I’d advise you to keep your mouth shut and retain your own criminal defense counsel immediately. Our forensic auditors have already flagged over two hundred thousand dollars in unauthorized corporate expense transfers from Hartman & Sterling Properties to your personal accounts over the past six months. That’s corporate embezzlement and wire fraud. Federal territory."
Celeste staggered backward as if she had been physically struck, her jaw dropping open. "Embezzlement? That’s—that’s a lie! Daniel signed off on those! They were bonuses!"
"Corporate funds used for personal luxury travel, private charter flights, and jewelry purchases without board approval or shareholder consent," Marcus replied calmly, tapping his briefcase. "That’s grand larceny, Celeste. Enjoy your sunset cocktails now, because federal prison doesn't have an infinity pool."
Daniel’s knees buckled slightly. He looked around the foyer, suddenly realizing the terrifying scope of his desolation. No money, no business, no mistress who would stick around once the federal charges hit, and no wife to protect him.
And then, a sudden, cold panic gripped his chest. A terrifying thought that had nothing to do with money or courtrooms.
He looked up the stairs, his eyes darting toward the hallway leading to the nursery.
"Wait..." Daniel whispered, his voice cracking, the color draining entirely from his face. "Wait a minute."
He looked at me, his eyes wide, frantically searching my stone-cold expression.
"Where... where is Noah?" Daniel asked, his voice dropping to a trembling, frantic whisper. "Where is my son?"
I didn't answer immediately. I let the silence stretch out, heavy and suffocating, wrapping around his throat like a noolar cord.
"Grace," Daniel whispered louder, a frantic, animalistic panic bleeding into his tone as he took a step toward the stairs. "Where is my son?! Where is Noah?!"
I tilted my head, studying him the way a scientist studies a particularly repulsive specimen under a microscope.
"Your son?" I asked softly. "You mean the baby you abandoned in a freezing house while you flew to Cabo with your whore?"
"Grace, stop playing games with me!" Daniel shouted, his voice cracking into a desperate plea as tears of sheer terror welled in his eyes. "Where is he?! I went to the nursery, it’s—it’s empty! His clothes are gone! The crib is empty! Where is my son?!"
Daniel lunged forward, trying to push past Marcus Vance to run up the stairs, but Officer Miller reacted instantly, grabbing Daniel’s arm and violently spinning him around, slamming him chest-first against the foyer wall.
Click. Click.
The cold steel handcuffs snapped shut around Daniel’s wrists with a definitive, brutal sound.
"Don't move!" Officer Miller barked, shoving Daniel downward.
"Get off me! Let me go!" Daniel screamed, thrashing against the wall, his face pressed against the decorative wainscoting. "Grace! Please! Tell me where my son is! Did you—did something happen to him?! Grace, answer me!"
He began to sob—real, ugly, hysterical tears streaming down his flushed face, his body shaking violently against the wall.
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"Where is my son?" Daniel whispered one last time, his voice breaking into a pathetic, desperate sob.
And right at that moment, the nursery door upstairs clicked open.
