I stood there, phone clenched in a white-knuckled grip, unable to move.
The Gilbert security detail.
Back when Thomas and I had been at each other's throats in the early years, I'd seen what they were capable of.
Gilbert Corp had poured everything into building that unit from the ground up.
They were top-tier professionals and absolute thugs in equal measure.
If they showed up…
The thought snapped me back. I grabbed my phone and dialed my assistant.
"Move Lily to another hospital. Now."
The next day, Thomas came anyway.
A wall of towering bodyguards in black crowded the hallway outside the hospital room, radiating menace.
Thomas stood at the front, Tracey clinging to his arm.
He raised an eyebrow, cutting straight to the point.
"Vivienne, be a good girl. Hand over the necklace and Lily."
"Unless you want to find out how many hospitals in this city would still dare admit you and your daughter."
I didn't acknowledge him. My gaze went to the far end of the corridor.
Thomas's expression hardened at being ignored.
"Do it."
"Who dares lay a hand on my daughter?"
Thomas turned toward the voice and went still when he saw who it was.
Then he looked back at me.
He clearly had no idea that this hospital's majority shareholder was my father.
The color drained from Thomas's face.
It was dawning on him that against a large enough force, even the Gilbert elite security detail had no choice but to stand down.
After a tense exchange, he could only take Tracey and leave, humiliated.
But just before he walked away, he leaned in close and smiled for no apparent reason.
"I didn't expect you to have a card up your sleeve."
My expression didn't change.
"And I didn't expect you'd use Gilbert's security force against your own wife and daughter for the sake of your mistress."
His lips curled, and he looked past me toward the hospital room.
I shifted, blocking his line of sight without a flicker of reaction.
Thomas pulled his gaze back, amusement still in his voice.
"Why would I ever go after my own wife and daughter?"
Before I could respond, he had already stepped back and turned to leave.
Something about it didn't sit right.
Every instinct I had was screaming that something was wrong.
That same day, I had my assistant double the security outside the hospital room.
I even brought in my father's people.
After a moment's thought, I ordered my assistant to copy every frame of the hospital's surveillance footage.