Reese took a long, steadying breath, trying to bury her anger and anxiety. She opened her eyes and nced around at her staff, who were whispering nervously, faces full of panic. Drawing herself up, she walked over to the warehouse


    manager.


    He was pacing back and forth, sweat running down the sides of his face, lookingpletely lost. When he saw Reese, he rushed over like she was his lifeline.


    "Ms. Meyer, thank goodness you''re here! You have to help us figure this out!"


    "What''s going on?" Reese kept her tone as calm as she could, refusing to let her own emotions spill over and make things worse for everyone. "Did they say exactly which raw materials didn''t meet safety standards? Did they show you any test results or reports?"


    The manager shook his head, practically stomping his feet in frustration. "Nothing. All they did was wave around a sealing order and say they got a tip-off. They wouldn''t answer any of our questions, just said they had to lock everything down for inspection. Ms. Meyer, someone is definitely trying to mess with us! We do mechanical work, not chemicals. There''s no way our materials are unsafe."


    Reese clenched her fists at her sides, her jaw tight. She didn''t need to guess who was behind this. Sebastian. Of course it was him.


    Yesterday, he''d gone on about how they were a team, a married couple-like they were supposed to be in this together.


    When it suited him, suddenly they were united, and she was supposed to be understanding. But the second she pushed back, he had no problem throwing her under the bus. She''d never felt so sick of his double standards.


    "I''ll take care of it as soon as I can," she told the manager, giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Just keep everyone calm. Don''t let this turn into a bigger mess."


    As she turned to leave, her mind was already racing with possibilities. That''s when Karter appeared, leading a group of uniformed officials right toward her.


    "Mr. Shaw?" she said, her surprise clear.


    "Ms. Meyer." Karter gave her a friendly smile and nodded to the people behind him. "This is the supervisor in charge of sealing up our warehouse.” He made a point of saying "our" and shot Reese quick wink. "I know a few people here. We''re about to go in and


    double-check if there actually are any unsafe materials. After all, we''re a mechanical shop, not a chemical nt. There shouldn''t be anything out of line. You go take care of what you need to."


    "Thanks," Reese replied, understanding his meaning. She watched as Karter and the officials broke the seal and headed into the warehouse. Relief loosened the knot in her chest, but another heavier feeling took its ce. She owed, Matthew again. The favors were piling up, and she had no idea how she''d ever pay them all back.


    She turned away, her face cold and determined.


    Sebastian, if you want to y dirty, then don''t me me for going all out.


    Pulling out her phone, Reese dialed George. He picked up almost immediately. "Ms. Meyer."


    "George, I need you to draft awsuit for me," Reese said quietly, standing just outside the warehouse door, the wind tossing her hair around her face.


    "Of course. What''s the situation?" George''s voice instantly turned serious.


    "Use the evidence we found about Sebastian forcing me into


    surrogacy want to press crimina charges for illegal surrogacy. Gather everything we have, hand it over to the police, and ask them to open case."


    Her eyes narrowed. During the divorce, Sebastian had asked her to prove her evidence was real. Letting the police investigate would be so much easier than fighting this battle on her own.


    "...Alright."