“He said it was just a standard administrative release.”

“He lied to you, Clara,” I said quietly.

“Nolan doesn’t pay his debts. He only creates new ones.”

She placed a small USB drive on the desk.

“The override codes are on there,” she said.

“Sloane gave them to me the day before she was arrested.”

My father stepped forward and took the drive.

“Take her to the holding room and wait for the police,” my father told the guard.

The door closed behind them, leaving the office quiet once again.

I sat down in the leather chair, looking at my hands.

The calluses from sanding wood were still there, rough against my palms.

“I want to finish the paperwork now,” I said to my father.

He opened his desk drawer and pulled out a thick blue folder.

“The petition for name restoration,” he said, sliding it toward me.

I took a heavy silver pen from the desk.

The ink was dark blue, almost black.

I signed my full name: *Evelyn Rose Hartwell*.

Beneath my signature, I filled out the petition for my daughter.