Chapter 22 - THE LAST THREAT
The pharmaceutical company collapsed under investigation.
Executives were arrested.
Research licenses were revoked.
But one threat remained.
A message arrived at midnight.
YOU CAN'T PROTECT HER FOREVER.
I showed Dominic.
He read it.
Then deleted it.
“What are you doing?”
“Refusing to give them attention.”
“What if they come back?”
“Then we'll be ready.”
I looked at him.
“You aren't afraid?”
“Yes.”
He glanced toward Lily's bedroom.
“Fear is why I'm careful.”
The next morning, extra security cameras were installed.
The hospital records were protected.
Our schedules were changed.
But we didn't hide Lily.
She still went outside.
Still attended therapy.
Still laughed with other children.
Still lived.
That was the part I refused to surrender.
I wasn't going to let criminals turn her childhood into a prison.
Dominic understood.
“Security protects your daughter,” he told me.
“It doesn't define her life.”
I smiled.
May you like
For the first time since everything began, I felt like we were defending something larger than survival.
We were defending normal.
