The color was slowly leaving his cheeks.

“Claire, we need to look at this very closely,” he said, turning the binder toward me.

“Look at the phrasing regarding Olivia’s parental rights.”

I leaned in, my eyes straining to make sense of the complex legal terms.

“It says something about ‘unfitness’ and ‘automatic delegation,'” I said.

“Exactly,” Samuel said.

“But look at the trigger conditions.”

“They are incredibly specific.”

Before Samuel could explain further, the landline phone on the desk began to ring.

The shrill sound made us all jump.

Julian stared at the blinking red light on the console.

“That’s the external line,” Julian said.

“No one should be calling this office at this hour.”

The phone rang a second time, the noise echoing off the sterile walls.

Samuel reached out and pressed the speakerphone button.

A panicked voice came through the static.

“Julian? Are you there?”

It was Olivia.

“Olivia?” I cried out, stepping closer to the phone.

“Claire?” she gasped, her voice shaking violently.

“They’re here.”

“Who is there?” I asked, my heart stopping.

“The police,” she whispered.

“But they aren’t the only ones.”