My ex-husband’s two sisters broke eleven of my eight-year-old daughter’s bones with a metal bar because she refused to record a lie about me.

By 4:00 AM, the task force had returned to St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

The hospital was now under complete federal lockdown. The corrupt security guards had been relieved of duty, and armed military police stood guard outside the pediatric wing. Dr. Arthur Pendelton had already been escorted off the premises in handcuffs by state medical board investigators and federal marshals.

Sitting on a bench outside Room 314 was Ryan.

He was trembling, his eyes red from crying, staring at the floor like a broken shell of a man. When he saw Nia walking toward him, he stood up on shaking legs.

"Nia..." he whispered. "They... they arrested Tessa and Morgan. The news is already blowing up online. The firm just fired me. Everyone knows."

Nia stopped in front of him. She felt no anger toward him anymore—only a profound, sickening disgust.

"You knew," Nia said.

"I didn't want them to hurt her!" Ryan sobbed, dropping to his knees and grabbing Nia’s jacket. "I swear to God, Nia, I didn't want it! But Tessa had all the money! She controlled my trust fund! She threatened to leave me with nothing!"

"Your daughter had eleven broken bones," Nia said, looking down at him without a shred of warmth. "And your first thought was your trust fund."

Ryan buried his face in his hands, weeping pathetically.

Nia reached into her tactical vest and pulled out a manila envelope containing legal documents prepared by Task Force Greyveil’s legal counsel during the flight over.

She dropped the papers onto his lap.

"Sign it," Nia commanded.

Ryan looked up, sniffling. "What... what is this?"

"Full and unconditional termination of parental rights," Nia said. "You will surrender every legal claim to Elise. You will never contact her, you will never see her, and you will never speak her name again. If you ever come within one thousand yards of my daughter, I won't call the police. I will handle it myself."

Ryan stared at the document, his hand shaking violently. "Nia... please... she’s my daughter too..."

"You lost the right to call her your daughter the moment you let your sisters drag her down into that cellar," Nia said, her voice dropping into a lethal, razor-sharp whisper. "Sign the paper, Ryan. Or the federal prosecutor will add you to the indictment as an active co-conspirator to child torture."

Ryan looked at the pen Nia held out.

He took it with trembling fingers, leaned against the hospital bench, and signed every single line.

Nia snatched the documents back, verified the signature, and handed them to Marcus.

"Get him out of my sight," Nia said.