The scent of another woman’s vanilla perfume was still clinging to Gabriel Costa’s collar when he pushed open the front door at 5:15 in the morning.

Three years later, the estate on the outskirts of Chicago looked entirely different.

The high iron gates had been permanently unlocked. The private security detail had been reduced to a quiet, discreet perimeter team that blended into the background. The massive, cold mansion had been opened up to natural light, fresh flowers, and the bright, chaotic energy of two growing children visiting for the summer.

Under the terms of an unprecedented international custody agreement brokered by Arthur Vance, Liam and Chloe spent three months of every year in Chicago with their father, while their primary residence remained with their mother in Toronto.

Gabriel had changed. The ruthless, paranoid underworld boss was gone, replaced by a patient, attentive father who spent his weekends teaching his son how to build wooden model ships and listening to his daughter recount her school plays with endless fascination.

On a warm Sunday afternoon in July, Gabriel and the children were sitting under the ancient oak tree in the back garden, eating sliced watermelon.

"Daddy," six-year-old Chloe said, her face smeared with pink juice, holding up a small, shiny object she had dug out of the soil near the roots of the tree. "Look what I found! Is this treasure?"

Gabriel paused, taking the object from her sticky little fingers.

It was a small, tarnished silver band—the wedding ring he had given Norah on their wedding day, the one she had left behind in the desk drawer on the night she vanished. He had buried it beneath the oak tree three years ago during his darkest moment of despair, intending it to serve as a marker for a dead marriage.

"Yes, sweetheart," Gabriel said softly, cleaning the dirt off the metal with his thumb. "It's treasure. But not the kind you spend."

"Can I keep it?"

"No," Gabriel smiled, slipping the ring gently into his shirt pocket, right against his heart. "This one belongs to your mother. When she comes to pick you up on Friday, I'm going to give it back to her."