"Enough evidence to destroy him in court." Axel pushes it toward me. "Bank records. Evidence of identity fraud. Enough to put him away for years. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We’re meeting my PI tomorrow with more evidence."
My fingers tremble as I open it, scanning the documents inside. Names I don't recognize. Bank statements showing massive transfers. Photos of Elliot with another woman, other children.
"Why?" I whisper. "Why is he doing this? If it's just money, he could have walked away when I got pregnant."
Axel hesitates. "The PI thinks it's about control. You're the only one who ever escaped him. The only one who figured out what he was doing before he could finish the con."
My stomach turns as pieces click into place. Elliot's rage when I questioned financial decisions. The way he isolated me from friends and family. How he tried to convince me I was unstable when I got pregnant.
"He doesn't want Poppy," I realize, cold certainty settling in my gut. "He wants to hurt me. To control me."
"Yes." Axel's single word confirmation lands like a physical weight.
I close the folder, mind racing. "If I show this to the court…"
"We need to be careful," Axel interrupts. "The PI thinks Elliot has connections in Oregon, possibly with the local police,definitely with someone in the court system. That's how he's been tracking you."
Fresh fear washes over me. "Then what do we do?"
"We take the private jet. We stay at a hotel no one knows about. We give this information directly to the judge, not through normal channels." He takes a breath. "And you let me help you, Sadie. Let me use my family's resources to protect you and Poppy."
I want to refuse on principle. Want to maintain the independence I've fought so hard for. But this isn't about me or my pride or even my anger at Axel. It's about Poppy.
"The private jet leaves when?" I ask, my voice steadier than I feel.
"Nine tomorrow morning. From a private airfield. No commercial terminal, no paper trail anyone can follow."
I nod slowly, still processing everything. "And after we land?"
"Security team meets us. Takes us directly to the hotel. Your lawyer comes to us, not the other way around."
"You've thought of everything."
"I've been planning nothing else for two days." His eyes hold mine, unflinching. "I'm not letting him hurt you or Poppy. Not while I can do something to stop it."
The intensity in his gaze makes my breath catch. This isn't the playful, easygoing Axel I've known. This is someone else, someone determined and powerful and slightly terrifying in his focus.
"Why are you doing this?" I ask softly. "After how I treated you?—"
"You know why." His voice cuts me off, his eyes staring boldly into mine. I know what he’s saying… what he’s not saying.
I want to say it, to verbalize, but it catches on the end of my tongue.
I swallow hard, unable to meet his eyes. The weight of the folder in my hands, the evidence of Elliot's true nature, feels like both validation and shame. All this time, I thought I was the one who missed the signs, who failed to see what was happening until it was almost too late.
"Tell me who Elliot is to you," Axel says quietly, his voice gentle but firm. "Not the facts in that folder. Who he was to you, Sadie."
The baby monitor crackles softly in the silence between us. I set the folder down, buying time as I gather my courage.
"I met him when I was twenty-three," I finally say, staring at my hands. "He was thirty-five, successful, charming. Made me feel like the most important person in his world. Like I'd been chosen."
Axel doesn't interrupt, just watches me with those steady eyes.
"Everything happened so fast. We were married within six months. And then…" My voice falters.
"Then things changed. He started isolating me from friends, from Rowan. Said they were jealous, toxic. He monitored my phone, tracked my car. Controlled every penny I had, even my inheritance, as small as it was. My mom left Rowan and me each a little over twenty thousand. It wasn’t much but she worked most of her life for that."
I take a shaky breath. "When I got pregnant, he told me to get rid of it. Said a baby would ruin everything. When I refused, the threats started. That's when I finally ran."
