The light was still on.
Steam lingered in the air.
Everything looked… normal.
Too normal.
Then the officer stepped inside.
Paused.
And leaned down slightly.
“What’s this?” he said.
The second officer joined him.
There was a moment.
A quiet one.
But it stretched.
Long.
Heavy.
Then one of them spoke into his radio.
“Requesting additional units.”
My breath caught.
Behind me, Mark’s posture changed.
Completely.
“What is that supposed to mean?” he demanded.
No one answered him.
Because whatever they had found…
It was enough.
Enough to shift everything.
The officer came back out.
His expression was no longer neutral.
“Sir,” he said, looking directly at Mark, “we’re going to need you to come with us.”
Mark’s voice sharpened. “On what grounds?”
The officer didn’t raise his voice.
But his words hit harder than anything else that night.
“On the grounds that we have serious concerns about your behavior and your child’s safety.”
Sophie tightened her grip on me.
I held her closer.
Mark looked at me one last time.
And this time—
There was no smile.
Only anger.
Cold.
Controlled.
Dangerous.
But it didn’t matter anymore.
Because for the first time…
He wasn’t in control.
The officers moved in.
And everything he had carefully built—
Was starting to collapse.
