Because I knew Everett. If he felt cornered, he would not apologize. He would not negotiate. He would strike wherever he thought I was weakest.
Lily.
Nathaniel seemed to read my mind. “Your daughter’s school needs a new authorized pickup list today. Remove every Sterling. Add only yourself and one emergency contact you trust.”
“I don’t have anyone I trust in Chicago.”
“Then add my office for now.”
I stared at him.
He did not smile. “I’m serious.”
By Friday, we had filed for emergency temporary custody, child support, exclusive decision-making authority, and an order preventing Everett, Vivian, or Serena from contacting Lily. Nathaniel also sent sealed documentation to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and a federal investigator he trusted.
For three days, nothing happened.
Then Everett came to my building.
It was Tuesday afternoon. Snow had begun falling, soft and white, making the city look cleaner than it was. Lily was coloring at the kitchen table when fists pounded on the door.
Not knocks.
Pounds.
I looked through the peephole and saw two men in reflective vests, a woman with a clipboard, and Everett Sterling standing behind them in a black coat, his face carved from fury.
“Open the door, Grace,” he called. “City inspection.”
I kept the chain on. “Show me a warrant.”
The woman shoved a badge toward the crack too quickly for me to read. “We received a complaint about unsafe living conditions and possible child neglect.”
Lily slid off her chair and ran to me.
Everett smiled. “You always wanted independence. This is what independence looks like—begging in a slum while my daughter lives with cockroaches.”
“Our daughter is not yours to use.”
His smile vanished.
“Open the door,” he said. “Or tomorrow I’ll be in family court with a report showing you’re unstable, unemployed, and keeping a child in hazardous conditions.”
I looked at the vests again. Too clean. Too new. No city truck outside. No paperwork visible.
“You paid them,” I said.
Everett’s eyes sharpened. “Careful.”
“No. You be careful.” I held my phone up. “This call is live with my attorney.”
It wasn’t.
But Everett didn’t know that.
His jaw tightened. The fake inspectors shifted uncomfortably.
“You think Nathaniel Brooks can protect you forever?” Everett asked. “He’s using you because you’re useful. When I apply enough pressure, he’ll drop you.”
“Like you dropped me?”
He leaned closer to the crack. “You were nothing before me.”
“No,” I said. “I was alive before you.”
For the first time, something like doubt crossed his face.
Then he looked down at Lily.
“The boys miss their mother,” he said coldly. “Carter and Mason are sick because of you. Owen cries every night. But you would rather hide here with that useless little girl.”
Lily flinched.
I felt her pain like a blade.
I stepped closer until only the chain separated us.
“If your sons are sick, call Serena,” I said. “She created them. She can raise them.”
The fake inspectors looked at Everett.
He had made a mistake bringing witnesses.
His face went dark. “This game has just begun.”