"My Husband Was Pulling On His Pants When I Came Home With Our Baby’s Ultrasound—My Best Friend Was Hiding Behind My Maternity Coats

For the next two days, my beautiful coastal house was transformed into a militarized fortress.

Liam's team installed hidden micro-cameras in every corner, motion sensors in the yard, and reinforced the doors with titanium strike plates.

Most importantly, we left the exact same bugs that Claire had planted perfectly intact.

I needed them to think I was oblivious and terrified. I needed to feed them exactly what they wanted to hear.

I walked into the nursery, carrying a baby doll heavily bundled in blankets instead of Lily, whom I had secretly relocated to a secure hotel with Liam's top female agent.

I sat in the rocking chair, staring directly at the curtain where Liam had found the hidden microphone.

"I don't know what to do, Sarah," I said out loud, pretending to be on the phone with my lawyer. I forced my voice to crack and tremble perfectly.

"I'm all alone in the house. The security company couldn't find anything. I'm just so terrified he's going to come for me tonight."

I paused, pretending to listen to Sarah's response.

"No, I can't leave. Lily is asleep. I'll just keep the doors locked," I cried convincingly.

I ended the fake call and walked quietly out of the room, heading straight down to the basement where Liam had set up a massive wall of surveillance monitors.

"Performance of the year," Liam whispered, handing me a mug of hot coffee.

"Did she take the bait?" I asked, staring at the glowing screens.

Liam tapped a few keys, bringing up a trace on the radio frequency of the bug.

"The signal is being actively monitored from a receiver located less than two miles away," Liam confirmed. "She is listening to you right now. And her phone just pinged a text message to a burner number."

"Damon," I guessed immediately.

"Exactly," Liam nodded. "Damon's bail was officially posted an hour ago. He is a free man, and he's currently speeding down the highway toward this exact zip code."

My blood ran cold, but I forced my spine to straighten.

I was completely ready. I reached into my jacket and pulled out a small, lethal stun gun I had purchased earlier that afternoon.

"Let them come," I said, staring at the camera feeds covering the dark, foggy property line.

At exactly midnight, one of the perimeter sensors on screen four flashed a bright, angry red.