Police arrived before we did.
Marcus wasn’t there.
No broken windows.
No forced doors.
No sign anyone had entered.
The photograph had likely been taken minutes earlier from the sidewalk.
My daughters were safe.
When I finally reached them, Lucy launched herself into my chest so hard I nearly fell backward.
Sophie tried to act older.
She lasted six seconds before crying too.
I held both of them.
And in that moment, something inside me changed.
All day I had been reacting.
To Gavin.
To Eleanor.
To Halston.
To Marcus.
No more.
Nobody was using my family as leverage.
Police placed protection outside the house.
My ex-wife arrived furious, terrified, and ready to take the girls home.
For once, we didn’t argue.
I kissed my daughters goodbye.
Then Sophie stopped at the door.
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Was the woman you helped today worth all this?”
The question struck me harder than she intended.
