Vanessa's POV

Vanessa had imagined this moment so many times, the drive up to the Blackwood mansion, the weight of a newborn in her arms, the silent acknowledgment that she had finally secured her future. But she hadn’t imagined how drained she would feel, or how heavy the infant sleeping against her chest would be.

The baby—Evelyn’s baby, slept peacefully, unaware of the chaos he had been born into. Unaware of the life he had been taken from, unaware that he was meant to be a symbol, ...