Chapter 4 - The Empty Bassinets
At 7:00 AM sharp, the doors to the maternity ward hissed open.
Julian, Sienna, and Eleanor marched down the hallway like conquering royalty. Eleanor was holding two expensive, monogrammed baby carriers. Julian was carrying a sleek leather briefcase containing the signed contract. Sienna was already filming on her smartphone, eager to capture the exact moment I was thrown out of the hospital with nothing.
They pushed open the door to my room without knocking.
The bed was stripped bare. The bassinets were empty. The room was completely devoid of life.
"What is this?" Eleanor demanded, her voice shrill with immediate panic. "Where are the twins? Where is she?"
Julian dropped his briefcase, his face draining of color as he looked frantically around the empty bathroom. "Callie!" he shouted, storming back into the hallway. "Nurse! Where is my wife?!"
He didn't find a nurse. He found a wall of dark suits.
Twelve federal agents, led by a stern-faced lead investigator, stepped out of the adjacent hospital rooms, completely blocking the hallway.
"Julian Vance?" the lead agent asked, holding up a federal warrant.
"Yes," Julian snapped, attempting to puff out his chest. "I demand to know where my children are. My ex-wife is legally required to surrender them to me this morning. I have a signed contract."
"That contract is currently sitting in an evidence locker as Exhibit A for federal extortion and witness tampering," the agent replied coldly. "Julian Vance, Eleanor Vance, and Sienna Blake, you are all under arrest for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, and extortion."
Sienna dropped her phone. It clattered loudly against the linoleum floor.
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"This is a mistake!" Eleanor shrieked, backing away as an agent pulled out a pair of stainless steel handcuffs. "We are the Vance family! You can't do this!"
"You aren't the Vance family anymore," the agent said, locking the cuffs tightly around Julian's wrists. "You're federal inmates. Read them their rights."
