Chapter 8 - The Thread of Memory
Evelyn wrapped her arms around her daughter, pulling Lily so tightly against her chest that it seemed as if she intended to fuse their two bodies back into one. She buried her face in Lily’s soft, blonde hair, breathing in the scent of baby shampoo and cotton that she had starved for during three years of institutional captivity.
"I'm here, baby... I'm here... I'm never leaving you again," Evelyn sobbed, her body shaking as she kissed the top of Lily’s head, her cheek, her forehead, avoiding the tender, swollen skin on her face.
Lily wrapped her arms around Evelyn’s neck, her small hands clutching at the silk of her mother’s dress as if let go, the world would dissolve back into a nightmare.
"You didn't go to the clouds?" Lily cried, her small face buried in Evelyn's neck. "Daddy said you went to the clouds!"
"He lied to you, my darling," Evelyn whispered, her voice tightening with white-hot anger as she looked over Lily’s shoulder toward the man in the black tuxedo. "I was looking for you every single day. Every single second."
Julian stood five feet away, his face contorted in a horrifying mix of rage, humiliation, and terror. His empire, his public reputation, his carefully planned marriage to Clara—which was meant to merge Vance Global with the city's largest banking dynasty—was crumbling into dust before his eyes.
"You signed the consent forms, Evelyn," Julian sneered, trying to rebuild his crumbling mask of authority. He pulled a black leather wallet from his jacket, his hands trembling as he pulled out a gold keycard. "You were declared medically unfit! You have no legal rights to this child or to Vance Global!"
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James stepped forward, blocking Julian's line of sight to Evelyn and Lily.
"She didn't sign anything, Julian," James said, pulling a thick Manila envelope from his navy suit pocket and tossing it onto the table in front of Clara. "The Swiss medical board released her six hours ago after reviewing the forged sedation records you paid their former director to create. Federal marshals are already downstairs."
