For several seconds, I couldn’t move.

Everett Calloway, the billionaire owner of Harbor & Ash, sat in complete silence beside the fireplace.

His tailored jacket rested over the back of his chair.

His expensive watch had been removed and placed on the desk.

Little Elodie slept peacefully against his chest, one tiny fist wrapped around his shirt.

He looked up when he heard my footsteps.

“You must be Brielle.”

My eyes filled with tears.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Calloway.”

“I know employees aren’t allowed down here.”

“I wasn’t looking for trouble.”

“I was looking for my daughter.”

He glanced down at Elodie before speaking.

“I know.”

“I found her wandering outside my office.”

My knees nearly gave way.

“Wandering?”

“The storage room door was open.”

“So was the security gate.”

“She had already crawled halfway across the hallway.”

My entire body went cold.

Another few minutes…

…and she could have reached the freight elevator.

“I should fire whoever left those doors open,” Everett said quietly.

Before I could answer, hurried footsteps thundered down the staircase.

Rochelle burst into the office.

Behind her came my manager, Kevin.

And behind them…

…stood my ex-boyfriend, Tyler.

The moment Tyler saw Elodie, he pointed directly at me.

“There she is.”

“I told you she isn’t fit to raise my daughter.”

His mother, Denise, appeared behind him.

Her voice dripped with outrage.

“She hid that poor baby beside cleaning supplies.”

“Give Elodie to us.”

“We’ll keep her somewhere safe.”

Rochelle nodded dramatically.

“Mr. Calloway, I personally discovered the child.”

“This employee endangered everyone.”

“I’ve already prepared termination paperwork.”

No one noticed Everett.

He hadn’t said a single word.

He simply continued gently patting Elodie’s back.

Finally, he looked at Tyler.

“You’re the father?”

“Yes.”

“I’m here to take my daughter.”

Everett asked one simple question.

“How many diapers has she used this week?”

Tyler blinked.

“What?”

“How many bottles does she drink each day?”

Silence.

“What size shoes?”

No answer.

“What’s her pediatrician’s name?”

Tyler looked toward his mother.

Denise stepped forward.

“That’s irrelevant.”

Everett slowly stood.

Still holding Elodie.

“No.”

“It tells me who raises this child.”

The office became completely silent.

Everett walked toward me.

Without hesitation…

…he placed my daughter back into my arms.

Elodie immediately buried her face against my shoulder without waking.

“I think she already answered the custody question.”

Tyler’s face reddened.

“You can’t interfere.”

“This is a family matter.”

Everett turned toward the wall.

Mounted above his desk were eight security monitors.

He pressed a button.

The recordings rewound.

There was the storage room.

At 4:58 p.m., Rochelle walked past the door.

She looked inside.

Then deliberately left the door wide open.

Five minutes later…

…she returned with Tyler and Denise.

Instead of checking on the baby…

…she pointed toward the empty blanket.

Tyler smiled.

Denise took out her phone.

They had known exactly what they were coming to find.

Everett stopped the video.

He looked directly at Rochelle.

“Would you like to explain why you opened the storage room after discovering an infant inside?”

Her confidence disappeared.

“I… I thought…”

“You thought what?”

She couldn’t answer.

Everett played another angle.

This one showed Tyler entering through the employee entrance nearly twenty minutes before anyone reported Elodie missing.

He wasn’t searching for his daughter.

He was waiting.

Waiting for Rochelle.

Waiting for the opportunity.

Everett folded his arms.

“So this wasn’t concern.”

“It was a plan.”

Tyler’s lawyerly confidence vanished.

Denise grabbed her son’s arm.

“We’re leaving.”

“I don’t think so,” Everett replied.

He pressed another button beneath his desk.

Within seconds, two uniformed security officers entered the office.

“I’d like these three guests to remain here.”

“They’ll be speaking with Seattle Police.”

Rochelle stared at him in disbelief.

“You’d call the police over a misunderstanding?”

Everett looked at the frozen image on the monitor.

The image of Rochelle intentionally leaving the storage-room door open.

The image of Tyler waiting downstairs before anyone even realized Elodie was gone.

Then Everett quietly said the sentence that made every color drain from their faces.

“It stopped being a misunderstanding…”

“…when I reviewed what happened on yesterday’s security footage and realized this wasn’t the first time someone had been trying to take Brielle’s baby.”