(Hailey Miller's POV)
Neri’s words landed in the room like a verdict. She wasn’t fully on Liam’s side. Not completely. She was on Isabella’s side — and, by extension, Caleb’s. In that instant she shifted from jailer to an unexpected ally, maybe the only one I had in this house of steel and silk. Her loyalty had a single, unambiguous limit: the children’s welfare. It felt like a thin shaft of light — and like a terrifying responsibility. Now the failure would be mine if I couldn’t act.
“What do we do?” I asked, the question slipping out as a desperate breath. In those three words I admitted defeat, vulnerability, the blunt need to trust someone.
“You must tell him,” she said, voice firm enough to stop argument. “Show him this. He’ll believe you. Or he’ll want to believe you. That’s his w
