I gripped the phone tighter, my knuckles white. I was still in my hospital gown, pacing the small room despite the cramps that seized my abdomen every few steps. “What do you mean, a done deal? David didn’t embezzle anything! The evidence is fake!”
“The evidence was found on his personal encrypted drive, Donna,” the family attorney, Mr. Henderson, said wearily. “Five million dollars transferred to the Caymans. The metadata matches his login. The DA isn’t interested in hearing about a setup. They’re fast-tracking this. He’s looking at fifteen years, minimum.”
“Fifteen years?” The room tilted.
“Someone powerful wants him buried,” Henderson lowered his voice. “I’ve tried to pull strings, but every door is slammed in my face. The orders are coming from the top. I can’t stop it.”
I hung up.
I didn’t need a detective to know who the "higher-ups" were. Anton’s grandfather practically owned the city’s judicial system. And Anton… Anton was the one pulling the trigger.
He had checkmated me. If I pursued Beatrice for the murder of my child, my brother would rot in a cell for a crime he didn’t commit.
I ripped the IV out of my arm. Blood welled up, dripping onto the floor, but I didn’t feel it.
The house was quiet when I arrived. I found Anton in his study. He was sitting behind his mahogany desk, a glass of amber liquid in his hand, looking at a file. He didn’t look surprised to see me. He didn’t even look up.
“You should be resting,” he said calmly. “You discharged yourself against medical advice.”
“Let him go,” I said. My voice was raspy, but it didn’t waver.
Anton took a slow sip of his drink. “I assume you’re talking about your brother. Terrible business, that. Embezzlement is a nasty stain on a reputation.”
“Cut the crap, Anton,” I slammed my hands onto his desk, leaning over him. “You planted that evidence. You paid someone to hack his drive. You’re holding him hostage.”
Anton finally looked up. His eyes were devoid of warmth. They were the eyes of a shark.
“And you,” he said softly, “are holding a gun to the head of the woman I love. You’re threatening to drag my family name through the mud with this ridiculous lawsuit.”
“She killed our baby!”
“And you are trying to kill my future!” Anton stood up, towering over me. “So let’s make a deal, Donna. Since you’re so fond of legal action.”
He slid a folder across the desk.
“What is this?”
“A withdrawal of charges,” he said. “And a binding non-disclosure agreement. You will drop the lawsuit against Beatrice. You will state publicly that it was a misunderstanding caused by grief. And you will sign a contract promising never to pursue legal action against her regarding the miscarriage ever again.”
I stared at the papers. They were asking me to absolve my son’s murderer. They were asking me to sell my soul.
“And if I don’t?”
“Then David goes to prison,” Anton shrugged, sitting back down. “He’s soft, Donna. He won’t last a month in maximum security. Do you really want his blood on your hands too?”
I felt bile rise in my throat. I hated him. I hated him with a violence that frightened me. I wanted to grab the letter opener on his desk and drive it into his chest.
But I couldn’t. I couldn’t sacrifice David. He was the only family I had left.
“Fine,” I whispered.
Three hours later, I sat in David’s living room.
“I’m sorry,” David said, his voice thick with guilt. “I know what you did, Donna. The charges were dropped ten minutes after you left the hospital. He traded me, didn’t he?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said, staring into my own black coffee.
“It does matter!” David slammed the cup down. “He set me up to protect that bitch! We can’t let him get away with this. We have to refile. We have to—”
“We can’t,” I cut him off. “I signed an NDA. If I speak about the poisoning, if I sue her, the evidence against you reappears. He has us in a chokehold, David.”
David slumped back into the sofa, defeated. “So he wins? After everything he did to you? He just… wins?”
“No,” I said.
I set my cup down and looked at my brother. The tears were gone. The grief was gone. In their place was a cold, hard resolve.
“What are you going to do?” David asked warily.
“First,” I said, “I need you to process the divorce papers. Immediately. I want out of that marriage, and I don’t want a single penny from him. I want a clean break.”
“Done,” David nodded. “I’ll have them ready by morning. But Donna… how are you going to fight him? The Jones family is untouchable in this city.”
“I’m going to ruin him,” I said softly. “Piece by piece. I’m going to take his company. I’m going to take his reputation. And I’m going to make him watch as I burn everything he loves to the ground.”
I waited until David went to shower before I made the call. My hands trembled slightly as I scrolled through my contacts, down to a number I hadn’t dialed in six years. A number I had sworn never to use.
Uncle Jackson. He wasn’t really my uncle. He was a distant relative, the black sheep of the family. The man who operated in the shadows, who arranged deals that never appeared on paper. The man my father had forbidden me from speaking to.
The phone rang twice.
“Well, well,” a gravelly voice answered. “Little Donna. To what do I owe the pleasure? Run out of charity galas to attend?”
“I need a favor,” I said, skipping the pleasantries.
“I don’t do favors, darling. I do transactions.”
“I know,” I took a deep breath. “Do you remember the offer you made me? Before I married Anton? You said you had a match for me. Someone who could merge our logistics lines with a global empire.”
Jackson chuckled, a dry, rasping sound. “I remember. You turned your nose up at it. Said you wanted to marry for love. How did that work out for you?”
“It didn’t,” I said coldly. “I’m ready to accept.”
“If you do this, there’s no turning back,” Jackson warned.
“Good,” I said. “When can I leave?”
“I can have the jet ready in five days.”
“Sure. Make sure to prepare yourself to marry your ex-husband’s greatest rival.”
