Chapter 217 - two hundred and seventeen
Chapter Two Hundred and Seventeen
Alicia’s POV
Maria’s extraction went perfectly.
I got the call at ten in the morning while I was folding Lia’s laundry, my phone buzzing with the number I’d been waiting for all night.
"She’s safe," the social worker said. "Both kids are with her. They’re at the safe house. Her husband came home while we were there but security handled it. No one was hurt. She’s free."
I had to sit down. The relief was so overwhelming it made my knees weak.
"Thank you," I managed. "Thank you for getting her out."
"Thank you for making this possible. Without the foundation, she’d still be trapped."
After hanging up, I called the safe house directly. Asked to speak with Maria.
"I can’t believe I’m really here," she said, her voice thick with tears but also something else. Hope maybe. "I keep thinking he’s going to find me. That this isn’t real."
"It’s real. You’re safe. You and your children are safe and you’re never going back."
"My daughter asked me this morning why daddy wasn’t here. I didn’t know what to tell her."