The airport police escorted us into a private interview room while Patricia continued screaming from the hallway. Lily was finally beginning to calm down in my arms, but my heart was still racing. I couldn’t stop replaying the moment she had tried to pull my daughter away from me.

A police sergeant sat across from us with a notebook. His first question wasn’t about Patricia—it was about who knew we were flying that morning. I immediately thought of my younger brother, Ryan.

When officers contacted Ryan, he sounded confused and terrified. He admitted Patricia had called him the night before, saying she wanted to surprise us at the airport and apologize before we moved farther away. Believing she only wanted closure, he gave her our flight number and departure time.

The moment he realized what had happened, Ryan broke down crying over the phone. He kept repeating that he never imagined she would do something so dangerous-