“They claim I am exposing Lucas and Owen to a dangerous environment by letting you stay at the estate.”

“But I am their mother,” I said, the words slipping out before I could stop them.

We all froze.

The truth of those words hung in the warm, sterile air of the room.

It was a truth we had kept hidden for five long years.

It was a truth that only the three of us in this room, and Daniel’s late wife, Evelyn, had ever known.

“The court doesn’t know that, Claire,” Ruth said softly, stepping closer to my bed.

“On paper, you are just the quiet housekeeper we hired from the agency.”

“On paper, you have no legal right to those boys at all.”

Daniel slammed the documents down on the bedside table.

The plastic water pitcher rattled, spilling a few drops onto the grey linoleum floor.

“My uncle Marcus is behind this,” Daniel said, pacing the length of the small room.

“He wants control of the family trust, and he is using my children to get it.”