I found my niece barefoot outside the hospital, holding her newborn against her chest

Within two hours, I was sitting across from Robert Garrison, one of the sharpest real estate attorneys in Oak Haven.

After reviewing Sarah's documents, he looked up and smiled.

"Thomas, your niece never transferred anything."

Sarah blinked.

"What?"

Mr. Garrison turned the laptop toward us.

"The apartment is still legally yours. Every inch of it."

For the first time all day, I saw hope flicker in her eyes.

Then his expression darkened.

"But someone tried."

He pointed to several documents Derek and Lydia had submitted weeks earlier.

There it was.

A forged signature.

Sarah's name.

Copied badly.

The date matched a day when Sarah had been hospitalized for pregnancy complications.

My stomach turned.

They weren't just trying to steal her home.

They had been preparing this for months.

Maybe longer.

Mr. Garrison immediately contacted the county recorder's office and requested an investigation.

Then he made one more phone call.

By evening, a judge issued an emergency order restoring Sarah's legal possession of the apartment.

But that wasn't the shocking part.

The shocking part came when investigators discovered Derek had already listed the apartment for sale.

He had accepted a deposit from a buyer.

And he planned to disappear with the money before Sarah even came home from the hospital.

Sarah covered her mouth.

"He was going to leave us."

I squeezed her shoulder.

"No."

I stared at the paperwork.

"He was planning something much worse."