“Daddy…” she whispered, her voice muffled against my shoulder.

    “Your mother will be worried,” I said. “May I let her know you are okay?”

    She paused a moment, and then I heard her, softly, “Okay…”

    Ten minutes after a quick phone call, Amber and Anna pulled into the parking lot. The car hadn’t even fully stopped before Amber threw the door open and rushed forward.

    She raced across the parking lot, her own tears falling as she found Alice and me at the base of the stairs.

    “Oh, Alice!” Amber cried, and took Alice into her arms now. The mother and daughter cried together for a

    while, both overwhelmed with their emotions.

    Minutester, when they finally parted, Amber and I sat on the bottom stair of the outdoor stairwell, with Alice tucked safely in the space between us.

    Amber spoke first, as she wiped away her own tears.

    “You didn’t have to run, Alice. Anytime you want to see Julian, you only have to ask.”

    “I agree,i” /iI said. “I will always have time for you.”

    “And I would never keep you from him,” Amber said. “Even if he and I have our own disagreements, you aren’t part of them, alright? You can see Julian anytime.”

    It warmed me to hear her say so. I had been somewhat worried that she would try to keep Alice away

    from me, given some of our arguments, but I knew she wouldn’t lie to Alice about this. For Amber to

    promise Alice that she could see me anytime she wanted, meant that it was true.

    Good. I never wanted to be at odds with Amber about our daughter. Though I suspected there were still

    many long arguments in our future about Alice’s care and education, we could face those challenges

    together, with the assurance that Alice would not be caught in the middle.

    Alice leaned into me while smiling at her mom. “Okay…”

    Olivia’s POV

    Olivia watched from the window as the trio reunited. From here, they looked like the perfect little family. It got on Olivia’s nerves to no end.

    “We have to break them up,” Olivia said. “And Alice is the weakest link. Amber is using that child’s existence as a way to cling onto Julian and keep him close.”

    Deeper inside of her room, Chase reclined on the bed, his head and shoulders resting against the headboard, his hands behind his head, his elbows up in the air.

    “Are you so sure?” Chase asked. “She’s a good kid. And with the timeline, it’s entirely possible she is

    Julian’s child.”

    “I refuse to believe that,” Olivia snapped, turning enough to shoot him a re. “We have to cut the ties of this family. I will not lose Julian to such a farce.”

    Chase pushed forward, sitting upright on the bed. As his hands dropped down to his sides, he gave his own hard look to Olivia. “I will not hurt a child, if that’s what you are thinking.”

    “You will do what I tell you,” Olivia said fiercely, but then she took a breath and somewhat regained herposure. “But I’m not entirely certain that is what is necessary… yet. For now there might be other

    ways.”

    “Which are…?” Chase asked, brow raising.

    Olivia looked away from him, returning her gaze back out the window and down to the precious little family below.

    “There’s more to Alice’s ne than Amber wants to admit,” Olivia said. “If we steal it, events might be

    set in motion that spare us further actions…”

    Olivia knew the ne was magical.

    Which left only one question in her mind – what secret was that ne hiding?

    :