I Returned Home Early to Surprise My Son on His First Birthday—But Instead, I Discovered My Mother Hosting an Extravagant Banquet for Almost Twenty Relatives While My Drained Wife Was Scrubbing Endless Piles of Dishes With Our Feverish Baby in Her Arms. “I’m the One in Charge of This Family,” My Mother Bragged. I Silently Put Down the Birthday Cake, Opened a Secret Folder on My Phone, and Within Minutes the Party Became the Start of a Police Investigation. / Chapter 25 / 30

Chapter 25 - The Race Against the Clock

I didn't stay in the storage unit another second. I grabbed the lead-lined envelope and the black leather journal, shoved them into my backpack, locked the safe, and sprinted to my car. My mind was racing a mile a minute. The threat was real, and the clock was ticking. Twenty-four hours was all we had before they made their move against my family.

I jammed the key into the ignition, the engine roaring to life with a satisfying growl. I slammed the shifter into drive and sped out of the facility parking lot, taking a winding, indirect route back to our suburban home to ensure I wasn't being followed.

When I pulled into the driveway, the house was dark except for the soft porch light. I hurried inside, locking the heavy oak front door behind me with a loud, reassuring click.

Olivia was waiting in the kitchen, packing a few essentials into a duffel bag. Her face was pale, and her eyes were wide with stress.

"Ethan? Thank God. You were gone too long," she said, dropping a stack of baby clothes onto the counter and rushing over to me. "What happened? Who was on the phone? I saw a black sedan parked down the street for twenty minutes after you left."

"They know about the safe, Liv," I said, grabbing her hands and looking straight into her eyes. "We don't have time to pack everything. We need to leave. Tonight."

"Leave? Where?" she asked, her voice trembling. "Ethan, we just got our lives back. We planted a garden. Leo is finally healthy. Where can we possibly go?"

"To Pier 14," I said firmly.

Olivia stared at me as if I had lost my mind. "Pier 14? The abandoned harbor district? Ethan, you just said dangerous people are looking for us, and you want to go to an abandoned waterfront?"

"It's the only way," I explained, pulling the black leather journal out of my backpack and setting it on the kitchen island. "My father left the real ledger—the definitive proof of the syndicate that backed my mother—hidden beneath the floorboards of Office 3. If we hand that over to the federal prosecutor handling my mother's case before these people can intercept us, we can crack this entire network wide open once and for all. It’s the only way to end this permanently."

Olivia looked down at the old, worn leather journal, then up at me. A fierce, resolute determination replaced the fear in her eyes. She had fought too hard, suffered too much, and scrubbed too many floors while nursing a sick baby to let some nameless syndicate take away our future without a fight.