My Mother Hurt My One-Year-Old Son and Walked Away—Then One Phone Call Put Everything She Owned at Risk.

Diane didn't sit. She stood frozen by the door, vibrating with a mixture of terror and fury. The red digital numbers on the bomb glared at her. Nineteen minutes remaining.

"You won't kill your own kids, Elena," Diane challenged, her voice trembling.

Elena slowly lifted the device with one hand, holding it up so Diane could see the intricate wiring peeking out from beneath the black tape.

"Are you willing to bet your life on that?" Elena asked.

Diane swallowed hard, taking a half-step away from the door and back into the center of the living room.

"If the DA has the recording, they are already on their way," Diane reasoned nervously.

Elena lowered the bomb back to her lap, wincing as her shattered leg gave a violent throb of pain.

"They won't get here before this goes off," Elena stated simply.

"Then turn it off!" Diane screamed, pointing a shaking finger at the device.

Elena looked down at Leo, who was now quietly gnawing on the edge of his plastic toy, blissfully unaware of the immense danger in the room.

"I can't," Elena revealed quietly.

Diane stopped breathing. The color drained from her face once more.

"What do you mean you can't?" Diane demanded.

"Mark built this as a fail-safe, it doesn't have a disarm switch," Elena lied flawlessly.

Diane rushed forward, dropping to her knees just a few feet from Elena. The sheer panic in her mother’s eyes gave Elena a sick, dark sense of satisfaction.

"You brought a live, ticking bomb into a house with your children?" Diane cried out.

Elena leaned in close, her blue eyes piercing through Diane’s crumbling facade.

"You brought a murderer into our family first," Elena whispered viciously.

The phone speaker crackled, breaking the intense standoff.

"Elena, I have a problem on my end," Daniel announced, his usually smooth voice sounding strained.

Elena frowned, her eyes never leaving Diane's face.

"What problem, Daniel?" Elena asked.

"One of the offshore accounts wasn't fully drained," Daniel explained rapidly.

Diane’s expression shifted, a tiny sliver of malicious hope sparking in her eyes.

"There was an auto-forwarding protocol hidden in the code," Daniel continued.

"Where did the money go?" Elena demanded, her heart rate spiking.