---- Chapter 17 Harper Griffin POV: The police arrived before Juliana and Mrs. Irwin could even process what was happening. They were led away in handcuffs, sputtering denials and accusations, their faces masks of ugly disbelief. The charge was child abuse. | had reached Leo in time, my fingers fumbling to loosen the jump rope from around his fragile neck. He was physically unharmed, but the terror in his eyes was a wound far deeper than any bruise. After hours of gentle questioning, the full, horrific story came out. Ever since he had been well enough to walk, Juliana and her former mother-in-law had been visiting him daily. They came not with gifts or comfort, but with whispers of poison, telling him he was a curse, a burden, that his death would be a relief to everyone. They had pinched and slapped him in places the nurses wouldn't see, all while threatening him with terrible consequences if he ever told me. "| didn't want you to be mad at me again," he whispered, his small body trembling in my arms. "I'm sorry | was mean to you before." Tears streamed down my face. | hugged him tight, my heart aching for this small, brave boy who had endured so much. ---- "Oh, Leo," | cried, laughing and crying at the same time. "You have nothing to be sorry for." | pulled back, looking him straight in the eye. "I'll forgive you on one condition." He looked at me, his eyes wide and hopeful. "From now on," | said, my voice thick with emotion, "you only have one mom. And it's me. Deal?" He nodded solemnly. Then, a small smile touched his lips as he looked over my shoulder. "Does that mean he's my dad?" | turned. Keaton was standing in the doorway, a gentle smile on his face. He was wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans, looking less like a powerful CEO and more like... a father. "That depends," Keaton said, walking into the room. He knelt down so he was at eye level with Leo. "Are you going to be nice to your mom from now on?" Leo nodded so vigorously his head bobbed. He held out his pinky finger to me. "Promise." | linked my pinky with his, a feeling of pure, unadulterated joy swelling in my chest. The hole in my heart, the one carved out by four lost pregnancies, began to fill. This boy, this beautiful, resilient boy, was my son. "| have something for you," Keaton said, his voice bringing me back to the present. He handed me a thick manila envelope. ---- "The files on the Jiang Corp case." My newfound joy was tempered by the grim reality of the fight ahead. "Any luck with the key witness? Old Man Jiang?" Keaton shook his head. "He refuses to see me. He's shut himself off from the world since the accident. The trail to prove Adler's sabotage ends with him." The hope that had just begun to bloom withered. Without his testimony, our case was built on circumstantial evidence. "Can | go see Grandpa Jiang?" Leo asked suddenly, his small voice cutting through the heavy silence. "He calls me sometimes. He wants to see me. But... my other mom never let me." Keaton and | stared at each other, a slow, dawning realization passing between us. The key witness, the man who held the fate of my company in his hands, was Leo's grandfather. The clue we had been searching for had been right in front of us all along