Sarah was positioning herself as the patient, exhausted stepmother who had tried everything.

Marcus was being framed as the grief-stricken, frequently absent father too overwhelmed to handle his daughter and willing to follow anyone who offered a solution.

And Blue Horizon waited in the background as the reasonable financial answer to an increasingly difficult family situation.

Every drop in the juice, every video, and every legal clause served the same script.

The intended ending was a six-year-old sent away while the people responsible gained influence over a property worth millions.

“We need to document everything, immediately,” Victoria said.

“And Lily needs to be examined by an independent medical specialist.”

Marcus looked into the living room, where his daughter was showing Evelyn one of her drawings.

“That,” he said, “is my first priority.”

Chapter 15 — I Believe You

They did not return to Greenwich that night.

Marcus sent Sarah a short message: