Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Summer
The drive to Ridgeview Foster Home was a blur of speeding lights and tight knuckles gripping the steering wheel.
My pulse was a frantic drum in my chest, each beat hammering louder and louder as my mind spiraled with possibilities.
I hadn’t slept. I hadn’t eaten. The only thing I could think about was that Jake might be leaving.
That, at any moment, he could be gone.
I slammed my foot on the gas, the quiet hum of my car’s engine the only sound in the suffocating silence. My phone was clutched in my lap, but there had been no new calls from Carrie. No updates. No reassurance that this was some big misunderstanding.
Because deep down, I knew.
I knew that wasn’t the case.
By the time I pulled into the foster home parking lot, I was barely breathing. My heart was lodged somewhere between my ribs, making it impossible to think straight. The air was thick with something heavy, pressing down on me the moment I stepped out of the car.
And the second I walked inside?—
I saw him.
Jake was sitting in the front office, his small frame stiff as a board, hands clenched into tight fists in his lap.
His head was lowered slightly, his messy hair falling into his wide, terrified eyes.
He wasn’t looking at anyone, but I saw the tension in his little shoulders, the way his chest was rising and falling in short, shallow breaths.
I followed his line of sight.
And that was when my world stopped.
Sitting casually across from Carrie’s desk, dressed in an expensive charcoal suit and polished shoes, was him.
The man from the park.
The one who had almost hit Jake.
The one who had shoved me.
The one who had threatened me.
Every nerve in my body snapped like a live wire.
I stopped in the doorway, my fingers clenching so hard my nails dug into my palms. My breathing turned shallow, my heart raging against my ribs as I tried to process the absolute nightmare unfolding before me.
He was sitting there. Smiling. Confident.
Like he belonged here.
Like he hadn’t terrorized a child just days ago.
Carrie looked up from her desk, her expression immediately shifting when she saw me. “Summer, I was just about to call you?—”
“Absolutely not.”
The words ripped out of me, sharp and unwavering.
The room went silent.
Jake’s small body flinched slightly at the sound of my voice, and I wanted to kick myself for being too loud. For adding to the fear already coiling inside him.
Carrie blinked. “Excuse me?”
I stepped further into the room, my entire body burning with a fury I could barely contain. “No. This isn’t happening. He is not adopting Jake.”
The man turned his head slowly, his gaze sliding to mine with an infuriating, smug amusement. His lips curled at the edges, as if he had been expecting this.
I hated that smirk.
I had seen men like him before.
Men who thought their money and status made them untouchable.
Men who got away with everything simply because they could.
“You again,” he murmured, leaning back in his chair, one arm draped lazily over the armrest. “What a surprise.”
My stomach churned.
“Summer,” Carrie said cautiously, glancing between us, “I understand this is unexpected, but we can’t reject a request based on personal opinion. There’s an official process?—”
“Personal opinion?” My voice pitched, my hands curling into tight fists at my sides. “This isn’t an opinion, Carrie. He’s dangerous.”
The man sighed dramatically, shaking his head. “This is ridiculous.”
I ignored him, keeping my glare locked on Carrie. “You don’t understand. This man threatened me. He almost hit Jake at the park. I was there. I saw it.”
Carrie’s brows knitted together in concern, but before she could respond?—
A mocking chuckle filled the room.
“Oh, come on.” The man tilted his head, looking at me with fake disbelief, his expression dripping with calculated arrogance. “Now you’re just making things up.”
I took a step forward, my blood boiling so hot I could barely see straight. “You shoved me when I tried to protect him.”
“Did I?” he mused, stroking his chin like he was genuinely thinking about it. Then, with a small smirk, he turned to Carrie. “I’d love to see proof of that.”
Carrie visibly hesitated.
My stomach plummeted.
Oh, no.
I hadn’t reported it. I hadn’t filed a complaint. I had been so focused on Jake, on comforting him, that I hadn’t even thought about making a report.
And he knew that.
He was counting on it.
My pulse roared in my ears, my jaw clenching so hard it ached.
Carrie sighed, looking at me with an expression I knew too well. It was the same look people had given me when I was a kid—when I had tried to speak up about something no one wanted to believe.
“Summer,” she said carefully, “without formal documentation, there’s not much we can do at this point. Mr. Hale has gone through the proper channels, and unless there’s something legal preventing him from applying for adoption?—”
“This isn’t legal,” I snapped. “This is about Jake’s safety.”
The man—Peter Hale—let out a low, mocking laugh. “Safety? I have no criminal record, Miss Adkins. I come from an established family. I’ve donated to this very foster system. And yet, you seem to think I’m some sort of monster.” He sighed dramatically, shaking his head. “It’s honestly insulting.”
I wanted to rip that smirk right off his face.
“This isn’t over,” I gritted out. “You’re not getting near him.”
Peter smiled, tilting his head slightly. “We’ll see.”
I turned to Jake, my heart shattering at the way his tiny hands gripped the chair, his entire body tense with silent fear. His big, terrified eyes flickered to mine, searching—pleading—and suddenly, I was sixteen again.
Sitting in an office just like this, heart breaking as I watched someone I cared about get taken away from me.
Not this time.
Not again.
I crouched beside Jake, keeping my voice gentle despite the storm raging inside me. “It’s okay, buddy,” I whispered, reaching for his trembling hands. “I’m here. You’re safe.”
His fingers clutched mine so tightly, I thought he might break.
His body was shaking.
I glared at Peter over my shoulder.
He just smiled.
Like he was already winning.
I swallowed hard, forcing myself to stay calm, focused. I wasn’t going to let this happen. I wasn’t going to lose Jake the way I had lost Malcolm.
I had one chance to stop this.
And I was going to take it.