Chapter 30 - The Cold Chain of Custody
Noah and Sophie stood at the top of the grand staircase, wrapped in their pajamas, looking down at the foyer with wide, terrified eyes. Sophie clutched her plush rabbit to her chest, her body shivering.
"Mommy?" Sophie whimpered, her voice echoing off the high marble ceilings. "Who is that lady? Why does she look like you?"
"Get the children upstairs!" Ethan commanded the nanny, his voice booming like thunder through the house. "Deputies, you are standing on private property! My legal team is on a conference call with the presiding judge right now!"
The lead deputy looked uncomfortable, holding his clipboard nervously. "Mr. Vance, we have an emergency temporary custody injunction signed by Judge Miller. The petitioner claims the children were retained without a valid surrogacy release."
Vivian stepped toward the staircase, looking up at Noah and Sophie with a predatory glint in her eyes. "Look at them. Such handsome, intelligent children. They carry the true Moretti-Vance bloodline. The trust paperwork I filed this morning automatically freezes your corporate voting rights, Clara, until the biological custody hearing resolves."
"You fake your death for twenty years," I said, stepping between Vivian and the stairs, staring down the woman who shared my face. "You abandon your sister to starve in foster care... and you show up ten years later to steal my family?"
"I didn't abandon you, Clara," Vivian whispered, leaning in close so only I could hear her words over the storm outside. "I was recruited by Ethan’s father twenty years ago. He hid me in London, trained me, and paid for my education. He knew Ethan would fall in love with you... and he created me as the ultimate contingency plan if Ethan ever tried to break away from the corporate empire."
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"Ethan’s father is dead," I growled through gritted teeth.
"His empire isn't," Vivian smirked. "And tomorrow morning, I take my children home."
