Chapter 6 - The Broken Mother
I didn't wait another second. I took Chloe, and my security team drove us straight to the address my investigators had found.
It was a decaying, run-down apartment building on the absolute worst edge of the city.
I walked down the dark, moldy hallway and knocked on a chipped wooden door. It slowly creaked open.
Standing there in a faded, oversized waitress uniform was Elena. She looked exhausted, her beautiful face pale and worn down from years of crushing poverty and working three jobs just to survive.
When she saw me standing there, genuine terror flashed in her eyes. She instinctively stepped backward, terrified that Beatrice had sent me to finally put her in prison.
“Richard... please,” Elena choked out, her hands shaking violently. “I haven't bothered her! I haven't reached out! Please don't take me to jail!”
I couldn't even speak. The guilt was suffocating. I stepped aside.
Chloe peeked out from behind my legs.
Elena stopped breathing. Her tear-filled eyes widened in absolute, paralyzing disbelief.
“Mommy?” Chloe whispered.
Elena dropped to her knees on the dirty floor. A guttural, agonizing sob tore from her throat. Chloe ran forward, and the two of them violently collided, wrapping their arms around each other and weeping as three years of forced separation finally shattered.
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I fell to my knees right beside them, wrapping my arms around both of them, sobbing uncontrollably.
👉 What incredible promise will Richard make to his broken family?
