“No! Please, don’t take us there!” Lily cried. “We just wanted someone to care about us, not because of who our dad is. Everyone treats us differently when they know. You didn’t.”

Daniel felt torn. He didn’t want to betray their trust, but he also knew their father must be desperate. And if the news headlines were true, Richard Bennett was a man used to getting what he wanted, no matter the cost.

That afternoon, while Daniel went to the diner for his second shift, he left the girls in Ethan’s care. But as luck would have it, a local neighbor spotted the twins playing outside and recognized them from the ongoing Amber Alert broadcast. Within an hour, the police were at Daniel’s doorstep.

When Daniel returned home, squad cars lined the street. Officers questioned him sternly, while the girls clung to his arms, crying, “He didn’t do anything wrong! He helped us!”

Then a black SUV pulled up, and out stepped Richard Bennett himself—tall, commanding, with a face full of exhaustion and worry. His eyes locked onto the twins, and he rushed forward, kneeling to embrace them tightly. Relief washed over him, though his sharp gaze soon turned toward Daniel.