Chapter 2
Julian dropped the pen like it had burned him.
Victoria clutched his coat tighter.
Eleanor recovered first.
She always did.
“Who allowed you in here?”
Sarah walked to my bedside.
“My client did.”
“I am her family,” Eleanor snapped.
Sarah looked at her.
“You are the woman who just assaulted her.”
Eleanor’s face hardened.
“That is absurd.”
Sarah lifted my phone from beneath the pillow and placed it in the evidence bag.
“Then I’m sure the recording will clear everything up.”
Julian stared at me.
“You recorded us?”
I looked at Hazel.
She was still crying.
“Give me my baby.”
Julian did not move.
Sarah’s voice sharpened.
“Mr. Vance, step away from the bassinet.”
He looked like he wanted to argue.
Then two hospital security officers appeared behind Sarah.
Julian moved back.
A nurse rushed in and placed Hazel in my arms.
The moment her tiny body touched my chest, I broke.
Not from fear.
From rage.
My daughter had cried while they tried to steal her mother’s life.
I kissed her soft head.
“I’m here,” I whispered. “I’m here.”
Eleanor pointed at Sarah.
“These documents are standard.”
Sarah picked up the top page.
“A medical power of attorney signed while my client is six hours postpartum and temporarily paralyzed?”
She lifted another.
“Voting proxies transferring control of a forty-million-dollar company to a man who owns zero shares?”
Julian’s jaw clenched.
“You don’t understand our marriage.”
“I understand coercion.”
Victoria tried to slip toward the door.
Sarah turned.
“Miss Hale, stay. Police are already on their way.”
Victoria froze.
Eleanor laughed.
“You think police will arrest a mother for family paperwork?”
Sarah smiled without warmth.
“No. But they might arrest her for assault, elder financial fraud, conspiracy, attempted theft, and witness intimidation.”
“Elder?” Julian frowned.
Sarah looked at me.
“Genevieve, there is something else.”
My heart sank.
“What?”
She lowered her voice.
“Your father’s final audit wasn’t lost.”
I stopped breathing.
“My father?”
Sarah nodded.
“He found irregularities before he died.”
Eleanor went pale.
Julian whispered, “Mom?”
And I realized this was not just about my paralysis.
This had started before Hazel was born.
May you like
Before my marriage.
Maybe before my father died.
