Chapter 17 - Emma’s File
The file described Emma as healthy, blond, and “available after maternal termination.”
Rebecca could not breathe.
“What does maternal termination mean?”
Detective Ortiz answered carefully.
“It may refer to ending your custody.”
Richard read the rest.
A foreign couple had already transferred a deposit.
Trevor intended to claim Rebecca suffered a fatal accident, then move Emma through private guardianship channels before investigators reviewed the case.
Rebecca remembered the increased life-insurance policy.
The unsafe house.
The gas smell.
The stolen passport application.
Everything pointed toward the same plan.
Trevor never expected her to leave alive.
Emma climbed into Rebecca’s lap while adults discussed the case.
Rebecca closed the file.
Her daughter would never see it.
Not until she was old enough to choose.
Federal agents raided Margaret Stone’s properties.
They rescued three pregnant women held under coercive contracts.
Records identified fourteen children placed through fraudulent adoptions.
Authorities began locating them.
Margaret was arrested at an airport.
Cynthia agreed to testify against her own relatives.
Trevor remained in county jail.
When told about the expanded charges, he requested a meeting with Rebecca.
She refused.
He sent a letter.
You are destroying families to punish me.
Rebecca gave the letter to prosecutors.
Trevor still saw consequences as something she created.
May you like
He still saw every victim as an object inside his story.
Rebecca stopped reading after the first sentence.
