Chapter 6 - The Husband's Awakening
Liam touched his stinging cheek, looking at Avery as if seeing her for the first time in months.
The adrenaline and the shock of the physical blow seemed to burn through the fog in his mind.
"Avery, what is happening?" Liam asked, his voice finally sounding like the man she married.
"Your mother killed Dr. Evans and kidnapped our son," Avery yelled over the sirens.
Liam stared at her in horror, the scattered pieces of his memory rapidly snapping together.
He remembered the bitter tea his mother insisted he drink every morning for his stress.
He remembered signing papers without reading them because he felt too exhausted to care.
"She was drugging me," Liam whispered, absolute fury igniting in his chest.
He grabbed Avery's hand and pulled her toward the hidden elevator behind the grand staircase.
"The estate has a localized security network that my mother cannot access," Liam explained as they descended.
They entered a subterranean server room glowing with blue lights.
Liam rapidly typed on the keyboard, bringing up the hidden surveillance cameras from the last hour.
He rewound the footage of the nursery, and they watched the screen in breathless silence.
Victoria walked into the room, wrapped baby Leo in a blanket, and carried him out the back service door.
She handed the baby to a man waiting in the shadows of the garden.
The man turned toward the camera, and Avery let out a shattered gasp.
It was her own estranged father, Richard, a degenerate gambler who had abandoned her years ago.
Liam zoomed in on Richard's hand, revealing a heavy briefcase full of cash given to him by Victoria.
Richard walked to a black SUV, put the baby inside, and drove off into the night.
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Liam tracked the vehicle's GPS via the estate's gate cameras and saw the final destination.
"He is taking our son to the private Sterling airstrip," Liam said grimly.
