Chapter 6
Ryan stared at the insurance policy as if it were a weapon pointed at him.
“I didn’t sign that.”
Maya compared it to the custody petition.
“This signature appears genuine.”
“My mother asked me to sign financial planning documents before Noah was born.”
“You signed without reading them again?” I asked.
Ryan looked ashamed.
“She handled everything after Dad died. Taxes. Insurance. Investments.”
“Did she also tell you to record me?”
“Yes.”
His answer broke something inside me.
No matter how much Diane had manipulated him, Ryan had still chosen to betray me.
Police collected every file from the lake house.
There were nine mothers.
Nine children.
Sarah’s old case was among them.
Some families had been reunited.
Others had not.
Harold Pike’s name appeared on nearly every legal document.
By noon, Noah and I returned to the hospital under police protection.
The doctor confirmed that he was unharmed.
The emergency judge canceled the order restricting my access to him.
Ryan was allowed only supervised visits.
When he entered the room, I held Noah closer.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Sorry doesn’t erase what you did.”
“I thought Mom wanted to help.”
“You watched her shake him.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“And I will hate myself for that forever.”
I wanted to scream at him.
Instead, I spoke quietly.
“You didn’t make one mistake, Ryan. You made a hundred choices. You ignored me. You recorded me. You signed papers. You helped her call me unstable.”
He lowered his head.
“I know.”
“No, you know you lost. That isn’t the same as understanding what you did.”
He left without another word.
That afternoon, police arrested Harold Pike at the airport.
Diane was not with him.
During questioning, Harold claimed Diane had designed the entire operation.
But investigators found bank transfers showing he had received money from New Horizons for years.
Then he offered a deal.
He would identify every family involved if prosecutors reduced his charges.
His first confession shocked everyone.
Diane had never intended to give Noah to Olivia.
The Grants were only one possible source of money.
She had accepted deposits from three different couples for the same baby.
After taking Noah, she planned to disappear with the money.
“And the insurance policy?” Maya asked.
Harold looked toward Ryan through the interview-room glass.
“That was her retirement plan.”
My skin went cold.
“How was she going to collect it?”
Harold smiled without humor.
“She expected Claire to suffer a tragic accident after losing custody.”
Ryan lunged toward the glass.
Officers restrained him.
“Where is my mother?”
Harold leaned toward the microphone.
“She has another passport, cash, and a property no one knows about.”
Then he looked directly at me.
“But she won’t run yet.”
“Why?”
“Because she believes Claire took something from her.”
I had never taken anything from Diane.
At least, I didn’t think I had.
Then Emily arrived carrying an old cardboard box.
She had recovered it from our mother’s attic.
Inside were the files she had stolen seven years earlier.
One photograph showed Diane standing beside Harold and several prospective adoptive parents.
Another showed a much younger Ryan.
He was holding a newborn baby.
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On the back, someone had written:
RYAN’S DAUGHTER—PLACEMENT COMPLETED.
