Daniel saw me first.

“What the hell did you do?” he snapped.

I didn’t move.

“What did I do?” I repeated.

Rachel folded her arms. “We had arrangements. We didn’t abandon her.”

Detective Harris stepped between us. “You left an 8-year-old child with a high fever unattended in a public hotel area. That constitutes abandonment under California Penal Code.”

Daniel scoffed. “She’s not even fully ours biologically. We adopted her because it was the right thing at the time. Don’t twist this.”

That sentence hung in the air like poi:son.

I heard Olivia’s words again: They said I was ruining the trip.

“You left her because she was inconvenient,” I said quietly.

Rachel rolled her eyes. “We had plans. Ethan was excited. We couldn’t just—”