Vale followed her out, closing the door behind him with a soft click.

I sat up straighter, the physical pain of my recovery fading behind a wall of adrenaline.

“What could he possibly serve me with?” I asked.

“We froze his access to the estate, and he is barred from the house.”

“He knows he cannot get the money directly right now,” Naomi said.

She paced the small room, her heels clicking rhythmically on the floor.

“So he is going to try to leverage the one thing he thinks you care about more than the inheritance.”

I looked back at the bassinet.

Evelyn was awake now, her dark eyes blinking open, looking around the sterile room.

“He wants my daughter,” I said.

Ten minutes later, General Vale returned.

He carried a thick, manila envelope.

His expression was darker than before.

He handed the envelope to Naomi, who tore it open without hesitation.

She pulled out a stack of legal documents and began scanning them, her eyes moving rapidly across the pages.

Her brow furrowed deeper with every second.