Chapter 19 - THE MAN WHO CALLED HIS DAUGHTER A MISTAKE|
Giovanni's team secured the outside entrances while local officers waited nearby.
I stood behind a concrete barrier with Marco.
Through the glass, Tyler opened the folder.
He removed a document and placed it in front of Moretti.
Moretti examined it.
Then he shook his head.
Tyler slammed his hand against the table.
I couldn't hear their words, but I knew the argument was about money.
A moment later, Tyler picked up his phone.
My own phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number.
Come inside if you want your daughter safe.
I showed Marco.
He immediately took the phone.
"He's trying to separate you from the team."
I looked through the glass.
Tyler was staring directly toward the entrance.
He knew I was there.
I stepped forward.
Marco caught my arm.
"Don't."
"I want to talk to him."
"That's exactly what he wants."
Giovanni approached.
"Jessica, stay here."
I looked at him.
"He's been using Lily's name as a weapon. I need him to understand that he has no power over her anymore."
Giovanni's expression softened.
"Then let him hear it from you. But you do it from here."
He gave a signal.
The officers entered through the main door.
Moretti tried to escape through the back, but two officers stopped him. Tyler stood frozen beside the table.
When he saw me outside the glass, he shouted my name.
"Jessica!"
I walked toward the entrance, stopping behind the security line.
"Give me my daughter's records."
Tyler laughed.
"You think you can order me around?"
"You have no legal right to access her private information."
"She's my daughter."
I looked at him.
"You gave up that responsibility before she was born."
He pointed at Giovanni.
"You're letting this man turn you against me."
"No. You did that yourself."
Tyler's expression twisted.
"You were supposed to be grateful when I left. I gave you a chance to raise her without dragging my name through the mud."
I stared at him.
"You called her a mistake."
"She ruined my life."
The words echoed through the terminal.
I felt the old pain rise, but it no longer controlled me.
"No, Tyler. You ruined your own life. Lily gave me a reason to rebuild mine."
He looked at Giovanni.
"You're going to let her speak to me like that?"
Giovanni remained still.
"She's speaking for herself."
Tyler laughed.
"You think you can protect her forever?"
Giovanni stepped closer.
"I don't need to protect her from you forever. I need to make sure you never get the chance to hurt her again."
The officers placed Tyler under arrest for the alleged threats, attempted coercion, and the unauthorized use of Lily's private records. Moretti was taken into custody for questioning on the financial and document-related allegations.
Tyler turned toward me as they led him away.
"Jessica! You can't do this! We're family!"
I looked at him.
"You stopped being her family when you decided she was a mistake."
He was taken through the doors.
I didn't feel victorious.
I felt free.
The next morning, Rebecca—the attorney Giovanni had helped me find—called with an update. The emergency custody filing had been accepted, and the authorities had opened a separate investigation into the threats against Lily.
Vanessa had also agreed to provide evidence from Tyler's second phone.
For the first time, I believed the danger was finally losing its grip on our lives.
A week later, I received a letter from my father.
He apologized for giving Tyler the address. He said my mother had been manipulated by fear and that they wanted another chance to be part of Lily's life.
I read the letter twice.
Then I placed it in a drawer.
Forgiveness might come one day.
But access to my daughter would have to be earned.
Meanwhile, Giovanni began the slow process of introducing himself to Sofia. He visited her with Claire's permission, brought books instead of expensive gifts, and let her decide when she wanted to talk.
He never demanded that she call him Daddy.
One afternoon, she reached for his hand on her own.
He looked as if the world had just been handed back to him.
And I realized that the man I had met at the wedding was finally learning that love could not be commanded.
But there was still one promise I had made to myself.
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I wanted to finish medical school.
And I intended to do it.
