Chapter 3 - The Empire Strikes BackBy Monday morning, Evelyn’s counterattack had begun.
Liam arrived at his corporate headquarters only to find his legal team waiting for him. Evelyn had filed an emergency injunction, claiming Liam was undergoing a "mental breakdown" and was harboring a dangerous, unstable woman around his child. She was petitioning for temporary emergency custody of Emma.
"She’s leveraging the board against me," Liam realized, staring at the legal documents. "She wants to use the company's PR crisis to force me to surrender."
"She also froze the trust funds," his lead attorney warned. "Liam, she’s playing dirty. She has private investigators digging into Sophie Bennett’s past right now. They will fabricate whatever they need to paint her as unfit."
Liam slammed his fist onto the desk. "I want Dr. Vance found. I want the adoption agency's financial records from eight years ago torn apart. Find the wire transfers."
Back at the estate, Sophie was pacing the floor. Liam had ordered high-level security for the house, refusing to let Sophie return to her tiny apartment.
When Liam returned that evening, looking exhausted, Sophie met him in the hallway.
"We did a DNA test today," Liam said quietly, handing her an envelope. "It was expedited."
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Sophie took it, her hands shaking. She opened the seal and read the bold letters at the bottom of the page. Probability of Maternity: 99.99%.
She collapsed against the wall, sobbing not from grief, but from an overwhelming, undeniable validation. She wasn't crazy. She was a mother. Liam stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her, holding her tightly as she cried against his chest. In that quiet, vulnerable moment, the dynamic between them shifted from strangers to two fiercely protective parents bound by the same child.
