KICK HER OUT, SHE'S DIRT!" MY HUSBAND AND MOTHER-IN-LAW THREW ME AND OUR NEWBORN ONTO THE STREET—UNTIL A HELICOPTER LANDED ON THEIR LAWN AND MY REAL FATHER WALKED OUT.

Julian swallowed hard, slowly raising his trembling hands as the red laser dots hovered over his forehead and heart.

"Clara... baby, please," Julian stammered, stepping forward with a pathetic, practiced smile. "Put the guns away. You know I would never hurt you. Everything I did... Evelyn forced me! My mother threatened to disown me if I didn't get rid of you! I came here to rescue you and Lily!"

Chloe's eyes widened in horror. "Julian! What are you saying?! You told me she was nothing to you!"

"Shut up, Chloe!" Julian barked, glaring at his mistress. "You were just a fling! Clara is my wife! Clara, look at me! We built a home together! Remember our first anniversary? The little apartment by the docks?"

I set my wine glass down on the side table with a delicate chime.

"I remember," I said softly, rising from the chair. The click of my heels echoed through the cavernous room. "I remember eating canned soup so you could afford to pay the maintenance fees on your luxury sports car. I remember staying up for three nights cleaning your vomit off the floor while you spent our grocery money on champagne."

I stopped five paces away from him.

"And I remember twenty-four hours ago, when you put your hand over my mouth and told me you would throw my five-day-old child into an alley."

"I was out of my mind with stress!" Julian cried, dropping to his knees, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Forgive me! For Lily's sake! A child needs her father!"

"A child needs a father," Marcus's deep voice boomed from the shadows behind the grand staircase.

My father walked into the light, flanked by Victor and two senior detectives from the New York Police Department.