The millionaire had spent ten years being told he would never have children.

The following morning, Marcelo’s study resembled a war room.

On one side of the massive oak table sat Victoria Hayes, the most formidable corporate and criminal defense attorney in the country. On the other side sat Chief Inspector Alan Reed of the federal anti-corruption bureau—a man Marcelo had personally funded and trusted implicitly.

"Let me get this straight," Victoria said, adjusting her glasses as she reviewed the documents from the city bank safety deposit box. "Viktor Vance forged death certificates for Julian and Elena, seized control of the multi-million dollar shipping trust, and has been actively hunting the remaining heirs to consolidate absolute power."

"And local jurisdiction has been sitting on three separate missing persons reports filed by sympathetic neighbors, which mysteriously vanished from the precinct database," Chief Inspector Reed added, slamming a separate dossier onto the table. "Viktor has deep pockets in the local court system. If we walk into a standard family court with this, his corrupt judges could tie us up in injunctions for months, putting the children right back in his crosshairs."

Marcelo stood by the tall arched window, looking out over the manicured gardens where Sofia was currently sitting on a velvet picnic blanket, hesitantly accepting a cup of hot chocolate from a pediatric nurse while holding a brand-new stuffed rabbit.

"We aren't going through standard channels," Marcelo said calmly, turning around. "We are bypassing the local courts entirely. We take this straight to the federal grand jury under RICO statutes and interstate kidnapping charges."

"That takes time, Marcelo," Victoria warned. "Federal indictments require airtight evidence."

"I have the evidence," Marcelo said, walking over to his desk and tapping the encrypted drive containing the security footage from the construction site, the original letters from Elena, and the confession extracted from Viktor’s gooning lackey who was currently locked in a secure federal holding facility. "Plus, I have something even better."

"What's that?" Reed asked.

"Me," Marcelo answered coldly. "I am formally filing an emergency petition for emergency guardianship and full adoption rights, backed by my entire legal and financial arsenal. If Viktor wants to challenge me, he won't be fighting a grieving mother or a helpless widow. He will be fighting the single largest private conglomerate in the region."