The scalpel gleamed under the glaring halogen lights, a cold sliver of steel that hovered mere centimeters above Hannah’s pale skin.

"Get out of my house!" Ethan roared, jumping to his feet and lunging toward the process server with a terrifying, predatory intensity that made the guards flinch.

"Ethan, stop! Don't touch them!" Hannah cried out, struggling to sit up as fresh pain lanced through her abdomen. "You'll play right into her hands!"

Victoria stood back in the doorway, her expression a mask of cold, triumphant satisfaction. "It’s no use, my darling boy. The petition was signed an hour ago by a judge who happens to sit on the board of our family foundation. The state recognizes these infants as high-risk dependents requiring immediate institutional protection under Caldwell family supervision."

The process server held his ground, sliding the official stamped document onto the foot of Hannah’s bed. "The neonatal units are scheduled for transport to the Caldwell Private Pediatric Facility in downtown Chicago within the hour. State-appointed social workers are currently downstairs with the transport team."

Ethan’s chest heaved. He looked back at Victoria, his eyes blazing with a dark, lethal rage that seemed to drop the temperature in the room by ten degrees. "You think you've won," he whispered, his voice dangerously low. "You think you can steal my children and break Hannah again."

"I am saving our legacy," Victoria replied calmly, turning toward the hallway. "Have them packed and ready by ten o'clock."

As Victoria and her security detail turned to leave, Ethan didn't chase them. Instead, a cold, calculated calm settled over him. He watched his mother walk down the corridor, waiting until the heavy oak door clicked shut.

Then, he turned to Hannah, dropped to one knee beside her bed, and pulled a small, encrypted burner phone from his pocket.

"She thinks she controls the courts," Ethan said, a dangerous, razor-sharp smile touching the corners of his mouth. "She doesn't know that three months ago, I quietly bought out the minority shares of the Caldwell Medical Foundation trust using my personal offshore investments. Legally, I am the controlling stakeholder of the entire corporate umbrella—including the private pediatric facility she's trying to transfer them to."