Julian Cross had built an empire on decisiveness. Boardrooms, negotiations, hostile takeovers—he thrived in environments where hesitation cost millions. But none of that prepared him for the sound of his daughter’s voice drifting weakly from the far end of the hallway, thin as paper and heavy with fear. He had just returned from Tokyo, his body still humming with jet lag, his mind already shifting toward the comfort of home. The house was immaculate, too immaculate, as if someone had scrubbed away evidence rather than simply cleaned. Eleanor’s hurried exit replayed in his mind—the clipped excuse, the refusal to meet his eyes, the way her heels struck the marble floor like punctuation marks on a sentence she didn’t want to finish.

When Julian reached Lily’s bedroom, the pastel walls and neatly arranged toys felt wrong, staged, as though childhood itself had been paused. Lily sat rigidly on the edge of the bed, swallowed by an oversized shirt, her shoulders curved inward as if she were trying to fold herself out of existence. When he moved toward her, the sharp cry that escaped her mouth shattered something deep in his chest. He had heard screams before—real ones, in emergencies and accidents—but this was different.