My father spun around, his hand moving instinctively toward his side.

I sat upright in the bed, the monitors beginning to beep rapidly as my pulse soared.

The lawyer remained standing in the doorway, a faint, cold smile touching the corner of his mouth.

“What’s happening?” I screamed, trying to swing my legs out of the bed.

“Hannah, stay there,” my father ordered, already moving past the lawyer into the corridor.

The warning lights above my bed began to flash red.

The lawyer stepped aside, letting my father sprint down the hall.

Then, he looked back at me, his eyes empty.

“Your mother-in-law wanted me to remind you,” he said softly.

“She always gets what she pays for.”

My phone buzzed again in my hand.

Another message popped up on the screen, this time from Ethan.

*I’m sorry, Hannah. She made me do it.*

I looked up at the doorway, but the lawyer was already walking away.

Down the hall, the alarms of the secure nursery began to wail, a shrill, piercing sound that filled the entire wing.