"Try me," I reply, my finger hovering over the call button.
Something changes in his posture, a subtle collapse, like a balloon slowly deflating. He reaches for the envelope on his car hood, rifling through the papers until he finds the termination document.
"Pen," he mutters, not looking at me.
Axel produces one from his pocket, offering it silently.
Elliot snatches the pen from Axel's hand, his fingers trembling with rage as he scrawls his signature across the document. He doesn't read it, doesn't need to. We both know exactly what it says. Complete termination of all parental rights. No visitation. No contact. No claims on Poppy, now or ever.
"You'll regret this," he mutters, shoving the signed paper back at me. "Both of you."
"No," I say, my voice stronger than I've ever heard it. "I only regret not doing this sooner."
His eyes narrow, that familiar calculation happening behind them, weighing options, looking for leverage, for weakness. Finding none.
"This isn't over," he spits, but the threat sounds hollow even to him.
"It is," Axel says quietly. "And if you ever come near Sadie or Poppy again, if you so much as say their names, every bit of evidence we have goes public. Your life as you know it ends."
Elliot's jaw works, a muscle jumping beneath his perfectly smooth skin. For a terrifying moment, I think he might lunge at us, might try one last desperate act. But then his shoulders slump, defeat washing over him like a physical weight.
Without another word, he gets back into his car, the engine roaring to life. The tires squeal as he reverses, then speeds toward the exit.
I stand frozen, watching his taillights disappear into the rainy night. The signed document trembles in my hand, the weight of it somehow both massive and weightless at once.
It's over.
The thought doesn't fully register until his car is completely out of sight. Then something inside me breaks, not in pain, but in release. My legs suddenly feel boneless, unable to support my weight. My hands start shaking violently, the document fluttering like a trapped bird between my fingers.
"Whoa, hey," Axel says, turning to me immediately. There's no triumph in his face, no celebration, just concern as he sees me starting to collapse. "Hey, look at me."
I try, but my vision is tunneling, breath coming in short, painful gasps. The adrenaline that's been keeping me upright for months, years, suddenly evaporates, leaving nothing but trembling exhaustion in its wake.
Axel's hands cup my face, warm and steady against my clammy skin. "Look at me, Sadie. Right here."
I force my eyes to focus on his. The world narrows to just his face, those eyes that see everything, that never look away.
"You did it," he says, his voice low and certain. "You stood your ground. You won."
A sound escapes me, half laugh, half sob. My knees buckle, but Axel is there, arms wrapping around me, pulling me against his chest. I grab on to him like he's the only solid thing in a world suddenly turned liquid. Like he's oxygen when I can't remember how to breathe.
"I got you," he murmurs against my hair. "I got you."
The relief is so massive, so overwhelming that it bursts out of me in messy, graceless sobs. I'm laughing and crying at the same time, my face pressed into his jacket, hands fisted in the fabric.
"He's gone," I gasp between broken breaths. "He's really gone."
"Yes," Axel says, his arms tightening around me. "And he's never coming back."
The reality of it crashes over me in waves, Poppy is safe. I'm safe. No more running. No more looking over my shoulder. No more nightmares of Elliot finding us, taking her, destroying everything.
"I couldn't have done this without you," I say, pulling back just enough to look up at his face.
His hands move to my shoulders, steadying me. "Yes, you could have. But I'm glad you didn't have to."
A warmth floods every cold, dark corner where fear has lived for so long. The words rise up before I can stop them, raw and unplanned and completely true.
"I love you."
