I found a young woman half-frozen in the park with two babies clinging to her — and when she whispered, “Please don’t let him find us,” I didn’t realize I was seconds away from a truth tied to my own past.

CHAPTER 6: SIX MONTHS LATER

The police handled everything from that point on. With the security footage and Ryder’s unlawful entry, the case was straightforward. Isla wasn’t blamed for anything—she was recognized as a young woman who had survived far too much.

And after months of paperwork, court visits, therapy sessions, and a team of attorneys, something I never imagined happened:

Theo and Silas became part of my family—legally.
And Isla… she became the daughter I didn’t know I needed.

Now, my once-silent house is full of life.

The twins crawl across my office carpet while I review financial reports. Isla comes home from her art history classes and fills the kitchen with stories and laughter. And the quiet corners of the mansion that once echoed with emptiness now hold warmth I never expected.

This morning, as I walked through Golden Gate Park again, I paused near the same bench where I first found them—cold, exhausted, and alone.

The sun was rising slowly, painting the sky pink.

I stood there, breathing in the new day.

I used to think the most valuable things in my life came from boardrooms, investments, negotiations.

But now I know the truth.

My greatest fortune was lying under a tattered blanket on a cold morning—three lives I wasn’t meant to find but did.

I turned toward home.

Toward them.

“Time to go home,” I said quietly.

And for the first time in many years, I felt exactly what that word meant.