Thomas's voice softened immediately.
"Alright, if that's what you want, I'll make it happen."
"Douglas deserves to be recognized. We'll hold a paternity recognition banquet and formally welcome him into the Gilbert family."
Tracey beamed, then put on a show of concern.
"But… won't your wife be angry? What if she takes Lily and leaves?"
Thomas shook his head without a shred of doubt.
"The marriage certificate is in my hands. No matter how angry she gets, she can't take our daughter anywhere."
I drew a long breath.
Forced every ounce of rage back down my throat.
Barging in now wouldn't do anyone any good.
I released the door handle and slipped away in silence.
One thing was clear: I needed custody settled as soon as possible.
I didn't waste a single hour. By that afternoon I had every document and appeal prepared, and I delivered them to the courthouse myself.
The ruling would take time, but I was certain the outcome would be in my favor.
After all, when we'd remarried, Thomas had rushed through the registration at the courthouse and left me standing there alone.
Back then, I'd assumed he was too busy with work.
Now I could see it was probably Tracey pulling his strings again.
And thanks to her little stunt, Thomas hadn't had time to look closely.
He never noticed the marriage certificate was fake.
But before the final ruling came through, Thomas called first.
"Vivienne, I don't care how many days you plan to keep this tantrum going. Bring me Lily's lucky charm necklace."
"Douglas has always been in poor health. I'm going to put it on him myself."
The moment his words landed, a new message flashed across my screen.
A headline: the Gilbert family's young heir to be formally recognized at a paternity recognition banquet.
I recognized the number. Tracey had sent it.
On the other end of the line, Thomas was still pressing.
I stared at the message and let out a cold laugh.
"Thomas, have you forgotten what you said when we prayed for that necklace?"
Lily had been frail and sickly from the day she was born.
Thomas was the one who took me to the chapel to pray for a lucky charm necklace.
But the priest said Lily was marked by too much illness and misfortune, and refused to bless one for her.
We knelt and bowed our way up all 999 steps, one for every prayer, before the priest finally relented.
And now he wanted to take his own daughter's blessed necklace and pin it on that bastard child at a banquet.
Thomas went quiet for a moment, then spoke again, just as resolute.
"Bring it."
I bit down on my lip until I tasted copper.
"And if I don't?"
A careless laugh drifted through the receiver.
"Then I'll come get it myself."
"Douglas still needs Lily's bone marrow anyway. I'll collect both tomorrow."
I froze, then lost all control.
"You heartless bastard! She's your own flesh and blood!"
"I will never give in! The necklace and my daughter, you're not taking either one!"
Silence on the other end.
When he spoke again, his voice had gone ice-cold.
"I'll bring the Gilbert security detail with me. Try me."
The line went dead.
I stood there, phone clenched in a white-knuckled grip, unable to move.
The Gilbert security detail.
Back when Thomas and I had been at each other's throats in the early years, I'd seen what they were capable of.
Gilbert Corp had poured everything into building that unit from the ground up.
They were top-tier professionals and absolute thugs in equal measure.
If they showed up…
The thought snapped me back. I grabbed my phone and dialed my assistant.
"Move Lily to another hospital. Now."
The next day, Thomas came anyway.
A wall of towering bodyguards in black crowded the hallway outside the hospital room, radiating menace.
Thomas stood at the front, Tracey clinging to his arm.
He raised an eyebrow, cutting straight to the point.
"Vivienne, be a good girl. Hand over the necklace and Lily."
"Unless you want to find out how many hospitals in this city would still dare admit you and your daughter."
I didn't acknowledge him. My gaze went to the far end of the corridor.
Thomas's expression hardened at being ignored.
"Do it."
"Who dares lay a hand on my daughter?"
Thomas turned toward the voice and went still when he saw who it was.
Then he looked back at me.
He clearly had no idea that this hospital's majority shareholder was my father.
The color drained from Thomas's face.
It was dawning on him that against a large enough force, even the Gilbert elite security detail had no choice but to stand down.
After a tense exchange, he could only take Tracey and leave, humiliated.
But just before he walked away, he leaned in close and smiled for no apparent reason.
"I didn't expect you to have a card up your sleeve."
My expression didn't change.
"And I didn't expect you'd use Gilbert's security force against your own wife and daughter for the sake of your mistress."
His lips curled, and he looked past me toward the hospital room.
I shifted, blocking his line of sight without a flicker of reaction.
Thomas pulled his gaze back, amusement still in his voice.
"Why would I ever go after my own wife and daughter?"
Before I could respond, he had already stepped back and turned to leave.
Something about it didn't sit right.
Every instinct I had was screaming that something was wrong.
That same day, I had my assistant double the security outside the hospital room.
I even brought in my father's people.
After a moment's thought, I ordered my assistant to copy every frame of the hospital's surveillance footage.
Proof that Thomas had shown up with his mistress trying to take my daughter by force.
Only then did I let myself breathe.
"That should be enough. For now."
