Chương 4
I looked around Elias’s bedroom.
I had not understood until that question that I was lying in his bed.
The realization embarrassed me irrationally.
“I don’t know.”
“Family?”
“My mother died.”
“Father?”
“Gone.”
“Siblings?”
“No.”
“Friends?”
I thought of two women whose numbers Daniel had made me delete.
One had moved to Queens.
The other might have hated me by now for disappearing.
“I used to.”
Officer Reyes nodded.
“All right.”
She did not make the word sound like a judgment.
“There are domestic violence advocates who can help you with emergency housing, an order of protection, medical documentation, and legal referrals.”
My pulse accelerated.
“Will they take my babies?”
“No one can promise what every agency or court will do.”
I flinched.
“But asking for help is not the same as losing custody.”
She leaned forward.
“Your husband has already made allegations about your mental condition.”
I stared at her.
“Daniel said that?”
“Yes.”
“What exactly?”
“That you became unstable after delivery, endangered the children, and disappeared.”
My hands went cold.
“He put us outside.”
“I hear you.”
“Why would anyone believe him?”
Officer Reyes’s expression remained careful.
“Because people lie confidently every day.”
I swallowed.
“And because sometimes the first person who creates a record gets an advantage.”
The meaning landed slowly.
“He called you first.”
“He created one version first.”
The room seemed suddenly smaller.
“What do I do?”
“You create yours.”
The door opened before she could say more.
Daniel pushed past one of the officers.
“Ava, this has gone far enough.”
Officer Reyes stood so fast the chair legs scraped the floor.
“Sir, get out.”
Daniel ignored her.
He looked directly at me.
His eyes were wet.
For one insane second, I almost believed the tears.
Then he said, “My mother hasn’t slept since you stole those girls.”
Stole.
Something inside me became very quiet.
“They’re my daughters.”
“They’re Millers.”
“No.”
He blinked.
I had never said no to him like that.
Not without adding an explanation.
Not without preparing for the punishment afterward.
His voice lowered.
“You’re sick right now.”
Officer Reyes moved between us.
“Mr. Miller.”
“She needs her family.”
“She said she does not want you in this room.”
Daniel looked past her at the nurse holding Lily.
“Which one is that?”
The question struck harder than a slap.
He did not know.
He had not even learned enough about them to tell them apart.
“Leave,” I said.
His face hardened.
“Ava.”
“Leave.”
“You don’t understand what you’re doing.”
“I understand you don’t know which daughter you’re looking at.”
His jaw moved.
“She’s three days old.”
“So are you as their father.”
Silence followed.
It was not a clever sentence.
It came out shaky and ugly.
It was still mine.
Daniel’s gaze moved to Officer Reyes.
“You see?”
“See what?”
“She’s hostile.”
Officer Reyes looked almost tired.
“Yes.”
“She says you assaulted her, confined her, and forced her from the apartment hours after giving birth.”
Daniel stared at me.
The tears disappeared.
“That’s not what happened.”
“Then you can give your statement separately.”
He pointed at me.
“She attacked my cousin.”
“I bit him.”
Daniel looked startled that I admitted it.
Officer Reyes did not.
“After he tied her wrists with an electrical cord, according to her statement.”
“That is ridiculous.”
“Then it should be easy to answer questions about.”
Daniel’s breathing became louder.
He looked toward the hall.
Elias stood outside with Marcus.
For the first time, Daniel seemed to remember where he was.
His entire posture changed.
His shoulders dropped.
His voice softened.
“Mr. Vance, I think there’s been a terrible misunderstanding.”
Elias did not move.
Daniel took one step toward him.
“My wife has been under tremendous hormonal stress.”
I felt sick.
“She isn’t herself.”
Elias’s face revealed nothing.
Daniel continued.
“I appreciate what you did for my children.”
My children.
Elias looked past him at me.
Then he asked, “What are their names?”
Daniel froze.
It lasted perhaps two seconds.
It was enough.
Officer Reyes turned her head.
Marcus stopped touching his phone.
The nurse holding Lily looked openly disgusted.
Daniel cleared his throat.
“We hadn’t finalized—”
“Their names are Lily and Grace,” I said.
He looked back at me.
The hatred arrived before he could hide it.
That was the first useful thing he gave me.
Officer Reyes saw it.
So did Elias.
Daniel forced a smile.
“Well.”
He spread his hands.
“There you are.”
Nobody answered.
His phone rang.
He pulled it out automatically, glanced at the screen, and rejected the call.
I saw the name.
Owen.
Officer Reyes saw it too.
She lifted her tablet.
“Mr. Miller, I’m going to need your cousin’s contact information.”
Daniel’s expression tightened.
“I don’t have to give you anything without a lawyer.”
“No.”
She nodded.
“You don’t.”
That seemed to bother him more than an argument would have.
He shoved the phone into his pocket.
“I’m leaving.”
Officer Reyes stepped aside.
“Nobody is stopping you.”
He looked at me one last time.
The old version of me would have lowered her eyes.
I did not.
Daniel walked out.
The elevator doors closed behind him.
Only then did my body begin shaking.
Elias entered but stopped several feet away.
Officer Reyes gathered her things.
“I want photographs of the injuries taken properly today.”
The nurse nodded.
“And I’m contacting our domestic violence unit.”
I looked at her.
“Will Daniel be arrested?”
“Maybe.”
The answer frightened me because it was not comforting.
“We need evidence, statements, medical records, and we need to locate the other men.”
“He’ll tell them to lie.”
“Probably.”
I had not expected her to say that.
She slipped the tablet under her arm.
“That doesn’t mean lying works forever.”
Marcus’s phone vibrated.
He checked it.
His expression changed.
“Elias.”
Something in his voice made everyone look at him.
“What?”
Marcus held the screen toward Elias.
“The apartment building deleted the hallway security footage from the night Ava gave birth.”
Officer Reyes frowned.
May you like
“Deleted when?”
Marcus looked at me before answering.
