Chapter 4
The first meeting between Sebastian and his children didn't happen at my apartment.
Or at some fancy restaurant.
It happened at the zoo.
On a Tuesday morning.
When the crowds were thin and the animals were most active.
I told the children we were meeting a "friend of Mommy's" who wanted to show them the gorillas.
Ethan was immediately suspicious.
"Is this the man from the restaurant?" he asked over breakfast.
I hesitated.
Then I nodded.
"It is. But he's not a stranger, baby. He's... someone very special. And he's very excited to meet you."
Sophie narrowed her eyes.
"Is he our daddy?"
There it was again.
The question.
I knelt down to her level.
"Would that be so bad?" I asked gently.
"If he was?"
The three of them looked at each other.
A silent conversation only triplets could have.
Finally, Lucas spoke.
"Tommy in my class has a daddy. He takes him to baseball games. And builds him treehouses. And lets him eat ice cream before dinner sometimes."
He looked at me with big, earnest eyes.
"Would our daddy do that?"
My heart broke a little.
I had always thought I was enough.
That my love was all they needed.
And it was.
But it hadn't stopped them from wondering.
From looking at other families on the playground.
From asking why everyone else had two parents and they only had one.
"I think he would try very hard," I said softly.
"Can we give him a chance? Just one day? If he's weird or boring or mean... we leave. Immediately. Ice cream on me. Whatever you want."
Another silent conversation.
Then Ethan nodded.
"One day," he said seriously.
"But if he tries to make you sad again... I'm kicking him in the shins."
I laughed through my tears.
"Deal."
---
Sebastian was waiting by the entrance when we arrived.
He had clearly made an effort.
No suit.
No tie.
Just jeans and a navy sweater that brought out the color in his eyes.
He was holding three stuffed gorillas.
One brown.
One black.
One gray.
And he was so nervous his hands were actually shaking.
The children stopped ten feet away.
Stared at him.
Judging.
Sebastian didn't move.
He didn't rush them.
He just knelt down to their level.
Held out the stuffed animals.
And waited.
"I heard you three like gorillas," he said.
His voice was softer than I had ever heard it.
"I talked to the zookeeper this morning. He said if we're very quiet... we might get to see the new baby gorilla that was born last month. Her name is Kindi. She weighs six pounds. That's smaller than most Thanksgiving turkeys."
Lucas's eyes went wide.
"Really?"
"Really," Sebastian said with a small smile.
"Also... I brought snacks. Not the healthy kind Mommy usually gives you. The good stuff. Goldfish. Fruit snacks. And... don't tell her... a pack of M&Ms. For later. If you're good."
Sophie stepped forward first.
Always the bravest.
She walked right up to him.
Looked him dead in the eye.
"Mommy says you're our daddy," she said.
"Is that true?"
Sebastian's breath caught.
He glanced at me.
I gave him the tiniest nod.
"It is," he said.
His voice thick with emotion.
"And I am so, so sorry it took me so long to come find you. I missed so much. Your first steps. Your first words. Your first day of school. And I will spend the rest of my life trying to make that up to you. If you'll let me."
Sophie thought about it.
Then she took the gray gorilla from his hands.
"Okay," she said simply.
And she hugged him.
Just like that.
No drama.
No hesitation.
Five years of separation vanished in one small, perfect hug.
Sebastian froze for half a second.
Then he wrapped his arms around her.
And I saw his shoulders shake.
Ethan and Lucas exchanged one more look.
Then they walked forward together.
And suddenly...
There were four of them in a pile on the zoo sidewalk.
Three small children.
One very large, very broken man.
And for the first time in five years...
I felt like I could finally breathe.
---
The day was magic.
Pure and simple.
Sebastian was a natural.
He didn't try too hard.
He didn't buy them the entire gift shop.
He just... was there.
He got down on his knees to look at the penguins.
He made the most ridiculous monkey faces at the primate house.
He let Lucas climb on his shoulders for the entire giraffe exhibit.
He answered every single one of Ethan's four hundred questions about tigers with patience and detail.
He let Sophie paint his face with sparkly stickers at the craft station.
And when she insisted he wear them for the rest of the day...
He didn't take them off.
Not even when a group of tourists recognized him and took pictures.
He just smiled and waved with a pink unicorn sticker on his forehead and butterfly decals on his cheeks.
By the time we stopped for lunch...
The children were calling him Daddy like he had been there all along.
It should have felt wrong.
Too fast.
Too soon.
But it didn't.
It felt like the most natural thing in the world.
Like a puzzle piece that had been missing for five years had finally clicked into place.
We were sitting at a picnic table near the carousel when Sebastian's phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
Frowned.
Then silenced it.
"Who is it?" I asked.
"My mother," he said.
"She's called seventeen times since yesterday. I've been ignoring her. I told my assistant to tell her I'm out of the country indefinitely."
"She's not going to stop, Sebastian. She threatened to file for custody tomorrow, remember?"
He reached across the table and covered my hand with his.
This time...
I didn't pull away.
"Let her file," he said.
"I've already called my lawyers. The best family law team in the country. They're drawing up papers of my own. I'm filing for joint custody. Voluntary child support—more than the state maximum. Full medical. College funds. Trust funds. Everything. And I'm including an affidavit that says under no circumstances will my mother ever be alone with my children. Not after what she did to you. Not after what she did to all of us."
My throat tightened.
"You'd do that? Go against your own mother like that?"
"Hannah..." He looked at me with so much intensity it made my breath catch.
"She stole five years from me. Five years of my children's lives. She lied to me. Manipulated me. Used me like a pawn in her stupid little game of power and legacy. She stopped being my mother the second she chose her fortune over her own grandbabies. I don't owe her anything. Not anymore."
His phone rang again.
This time...
It wasn't Eleanor.
It was a number I didn't recognize.
Sebastian looked at it.
Swore under his breath.
"What's wrong?"
"That's my head of security," he said, standing up.
"He only calls when something's very wrong."
He answered.
Listened.
His face went from concerned to furious in about three seconds.
"Are you sure?" he snapped.
"Send everything you have to my phone. Now. And get a team to Hannah's building. Two men at the front door. Two in the parking garage. I don't care what it costs. Just do it."
He hung up.
"Sebastian... what is it?"
He ran a hand through his hair.
Looked at the children who were now happily chasing pigeons across the grass.
Then he leaned in close.
His voice low.
Urgent.
"Olivia just sold the story to every tabloid in the country. She's telling them you're a gold-digging waitress who trapped me with triplets and spent five years hiding them to extort the Carter family. She has... she has photos, Hannah. Old ones. From when we were married. She's twisting everything. Making you look like the villain. And my mother... my mother is confirming every word of it. They're calling it the 'Carter Baby Scandal.' It's already the number one trending topic on every social media platform in the country."
My blood ran cold.
I pulled out my own phone.
He was right.
Everywhere I looked.
BILLIONAIRE EX-WIFE HIDES TRIPLETS FOR FIVE YEARS IN SHOCKING EXTORTION PLOT
HANNAH MARKS: THE WAITRESS WHO TRIED TO STEAL THE CARTER FORTUNE
INSIDE THE TWISTED LIE THAT SHOOK CHICAGO'S RICHEST FAMILY
And there were pictures.
Pictures of me working at the diner five years ago.
Pictures of my small apartment.
Pictures of the children at the park—taken that very morning by someone with a long lens.
They were everywhere.
"She's been following us," I whispered.
"She knew we'd be at the zoo."
Sebastian was already on his feet.
Gathering the children.
"We have to go," he said.
"Now. Before the press finds us. My driver is pulling around the back entrance. We're going to my place. It's secure. Private. No one gets in without my permission."
I looked at my children.
Laughing.
Innocent.
Completely unaware that their lives had just been splashed across every newspaper and website in America.
I thought of Eleanor's words.
This family doesn't lose. Not to girls like you.
The war had officially begun.
May you like
And the first casualty was already clear.
Our privacy.
