One approached Rachel.
“We received your call. What’s going on?”
Rachel stepped forward.
“We need to verify this man’s relationship with a minor. The child’s mother says he isn’t the father.”
Marcus raised his hands in disbelief.
“This is insane. Now I’m being treated like a criminal?”
One officer opened a notebook.
“We just need to check your documents, sir. If everything is fine, you can take her.”
Marcus inhaled slowly.
“Fine. I’ll go home and get them.”
Rachel shook her head.
“Emma stays here until everything is clear.”
Marcus’s eyes darkened.
“You can’t do that.”
The officer spoke firmly.
“Actually, we can.”
Marcus clenched his fists but said nothing. He turned and left the hospital.
Rachel felt uneasy.
“He’ll be back.”
The officer nodded.
“Yes. But now we know he’s hiding something.”
Rachel returned to Natalie’s room.
Emma sat beside the bed holding her mother’s hand.
“Did he leave?” the girl asked quietly.
“For now.”
Emma lowered her gaze.
“He’ll come back. He always does.”
Rachel knelt beside her.
“But this time we’re here. He won’t take you.”
Emma looked uncertain.
“That’s what Mom said last time. But he found us.”
Rachel felt that knot in her stomach tighten.
“Last time?”
Natalie struggled to breathe.
“We tried to escape a month ago. He caught us on the highway. The accident happened because I was running from him.”
Rachel swallowed.
“Has he always been violent?”
Natalie closed her eyes.
“No… not at first. But when I realized what he was capable of, it was already too late.”
Rachel took a deep breath.
“I’ll make sure he never hurts either of you again.”
Emma looked at her with tearful eyes.
“Do you promise?”
Rachel held her hands.
“I promise.”
Later that day the police found something crucial.
Three years earlier, a missing child report had been filed for Emma Carter.
Mother: Natalie Carter.
The case had never been solved.
Which meant Marcus had kept the child illegally for three years—and likely prevented Natalie from reporting him.
When Marcus returned with a birth certificate bearing his name, officers detained him for questioning.
Rachel stood firm.
“She isn’t your daughter.”
“I raised her for three years!” Marcus shouted.
“Against her mother’s will.”
He lunged forward angrily, but the officers restrained him and led him away.
“This isn’t over,” he yelled.
Rachel looked him straight in the eyes.
“No. But it might be for you.”
Back in the hospital room, Emma asked quietly,
“Is he gone?”