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Nina tugs her hand out from mine and I let her, only because it’s not going to help either one of us right now.

“I’m an adult, Mom. I’m not sick, I can make decisions for myself, and I’m not letting you hide me away at an upscale institution until I’ll be who you want me to be,” she chokes out, wrapping her arms around her waist.

“What the hell has been happening the last four years?” I rasp. “I thought she’d be safe with you, and you’re trying to brainwash her into being the perfect Stepford girl just like you are. I should have found a way to take Nina with me.”

“She’s mine,” Vivian snarls, standing and grabbing Nina’s arms to pull her to her side roughly. “It’s not natural to live in your car. I’ve been tracking the vehicle, but she keeps moving the damn thing too often for me to find her. Then when I found the car and Ethan, I put it all together. I don’t know how long she’s been living here, but it’s clear that Nina can’t make proper decisions. I’m contacting the school to unenroll her today.”

“You can’t do that, Mom,” Nina cries, tears starting to slide down her face.

“She’s right, she’s an adult. You can’t do that. I’m her step-father, and nothing inappropriate is happening,” I lie. “It’s perfectly normal for me to offer her a place to live. It’s too damncold for her to be sleeping in her car. She could have frozen to death.”

“The admissions department will pull her scholarship for it, though,” Vivian insists, her voice shrill and harsh.

“They would if she was still living in the vehicle, but this is her new address now,” I tell her. I haven’t had it changed anywhere, but she doesn’t need to know that.

A knock on the door makes me glare suspiciously at my ex-wife, who has a smug glint in her eyes.

“Nothing you have to say matters, because I have a huge file that talks about her history of self harm,” she says with a smile.

“What history of self-harm?” I ask, horrified at her lies. I’ve seen Nina naked, and I haven’t seen any evidence of that on her skin. Again, this is something else I can’t say as I stomp to the front door to answer it.

“You caught her once when she jumped from the tree, or don’t you remember?” Vivian asks sweetly as Nina sputters.

Vivian Sterling is a gaslighter. Fuck me. Nina fell out of the tree at nine, she never jumped. The whole thing was her mother’s damn fault as well.

“Be a dear, and answer the door, would you? The doctor should be here with two of his associates,” Vivian says with a smirk.

Nina’s sobbing and begging her mom to stop and I hear a ringing in my ears at the thought that I’m going to lose this beautiful girl yet again.

Fuck.

“Come on, Vivian. Do you really want Nina or do you want a perfect little doll, because she’s never going to be that for you,” I try again. “You need to remember that she’s a person with her own wants and desires. You can’t mold her into something she’s not.”

“Anything is possible with a money back guarantee, enough money, and behavior modification techniques. Plus, she’s an omega. I can smell her from here. Nina will be brought to heel,”she chuckles. Lifting a chunk of Nina’s pink and blonde hair, my ex-wife snarls as if it offends her. “Open the damn door or I will.”

Growling under my breath, I open the door. There are three men in white uniform, a man in his sixties looking past me at my now-hysterical step-daughter.

“I can see I’m coming just in time,” he murmurs. “I’m Dr. Kind, and these are my associates. I left the other primary psychiatrist at the institution to hold down the fort so I could be here tonight. It sounds like she’s having a psychotic break from the stress of school. I see it all of the time.”

Ethan leans against the wall, fuming as he watches the men push past me. One of the men shows me a notice for a seventy-two hour hold for Nina in a psychiatric facility.

My lips curl at how contrived this piece of paper is. Nina hasn’t been seen by anyone, she’s not psychotic, and she’s freaking out because her mother is an asshole.

“When did you evaluate Nina,” I ask, raising my voice. “This can’t be written up based on what someone says, and Nina has been at school all day. So how is this piece of paper legal?”

“You don’t need to go through legal channels when you have money, silly,” Vivian laughs lightly as the men take Nina from her. She struggles and kicks, but they’re a lot bigger than her.

I want to beat the shit out of them all, but I can’t. I need to prove this is fake.

“Stop, wait, no!” Nina screams as the doctor pushes an injection into her neck, nodding as she slumps in his arms.

“What did you give her?” Ethan asks, alarmed. His gaze and mine move over her to make sure she’s still breathing. His chest heaves as he straightens. I don’t think he thought they’d actually be moving so quickly.

To be honest, I’m surprised as well.

“A sedative,” Dr. Kind grunts as one of the goons next to him lifts her into his arms. Nina’s head lolls back, her hair loose. “We’ll be leaving now. You’re welcome to call the police, butthere’s really nothing they’ll be able to do. This is a seventy-two hour hold, and they’ll tell you just to ride it out.”

“What are the odds that they’ll release her afterwards?” Ethan asks. I let him ask all of the questions I want to, because I’m spiraling and angry. I’m trying to figure out what the best way to navigate this is without going to jail.