"The police said someone reported him and the evidence was solid. They just took Dad away, no questions asked!"


    "I know it was Reese. That snake has been gathering evidence for ages. She went quiet for so long I actually thought she''d let it go, but clearly not..."


    "Mom, please, calm down. Crying isn''t going to help." Tara bit the inside of her cheek, trying to force herself to stay steady. "Right now, we need to figure out how to get Dad out."


    "Reach out to the Ramos Corporation shareholders. Maybe they''ll testify for us, exin what really happened. Just say Reese faked all that evidence. Dad was only trying to stabilize the stock price, not mess with it..."


    "I already did. It''s useless." Rosie''s voice sounded hollow, defeated. "Reese bought out all their shares a few days ago. She forced them out of thepany.


    "Now they''re all scrambling to protect themselves. None of them would dare speak up for us.


    "And it gets worse. Josh and Cameron are caught up in this too. The police took them in along with Dad.


    "Anyone who wasn''t implicated is avoiding me altogether. They keep saying they can''t help even if they wanted to." Rosie''s voice broke, her crying getting louder. "I tried calling our business partners for help. Not a single person even picked up. Some sent people over to pay penalties to break their contracts, just so they''d have an excuse to cut ties.


    "Tara, what are we supposed to do now?"


    Tara felt her face drain of color. Those business deals had only ever happened because of the Ratcliff family name and Zach. Now that everything was falling apart, Zach hadn''te after them, but he hadn''t lifted a finger to help either. The Ratcliffs had totally disappeared. Of course everyone was pulling away. None of that surprised her.


    What did surprise her was how fast Reese had put all this together. She''d found evidence against not just Dad, but the shareholders too.


    "After all the years we raised Reese, how can she be so heartless?" Rosie sobbed. "You can''t even have children because of all this, and she still wants to ruin uspletely. Doesn''t she care at all?


    "She''s just an ungrateful brat. If I''d known, I''d have left her in that orphanage instead of taking her in!"


    Those words "can''t even have children"-wrapped around Tara''s chest like a vice, crushing her from a the inside out. She stared nkly at the antique vases by the door, her mind spinning What was she supposed to do now? Was there even anything left to try?


    "Tara, are you still there? Say something! Don''t scare me!" Rosie''s panic was rising again. "Why don''t you callzach? Ask him for help the steps in, the partners will conte back, and he can talk to the police! He''s the only one who can fix this."


    The fact that Zach hadn''te after her family had given Tara just a sliver of hope. She clung to it even though she knew better.


    "I''m here," Tara said quietly. She leaned back, closed her eyes, and dug her nails into her palms, trying to ground herself with the pain helped a little, but not much.


    Zach wasn''t going to help.


    "Don''t worry, Mom. I''ll figure something out."


    Tara hung up and, after a moment''s hesitation, tried calling Zach.


    "The number you have dialed is not in service. Please try againter.”


    He''d blocked her.


    Whatever hope she had left vanished. Tears blurred her vision as her phone slipped from her hands andnded with a dull thud on the sofa.


    "Zach... how could you do this to me..."