My forehead pressed against the cold, polished leather of Emmett’s shoe. I was sobbing, a broken thing, begging the man who had vowed to cherish me to spare the life of our child. The humiliation was absolute, a bitter acid burning through my veins.
"Pathetic," Emmett sneered, kicking his foot slightly to dislodge my grip. "Look at you. The great 'Wish.' Just a desperate, groveling mess."
He turned back to the machines, his hand hovering over the dials again. "I accept your terms, Adelia. But remember this image. Remember your place. If you ever s
tep out of line, if you ever breathe a word of defiance, this machine turns off. Permanently."
He didn't pull the plug. He adjusted a setting, silencing the frantic alarm but leaving the flow of oxygen precariously low. It was a warning shot. A demonstration of god-like power over my world.
"Now, get out," he barked. "I need to comfort Elisa. She’s had a traumatic day."
I scrambled backward, clutching my throbbing, dislocated shoulder. I didn't look at Elisa, whose face was a mask of smug satisfaction, nor at Gordon, who was smi
rking behind his mother’s skirt. I looked only at Alexis, silently promising her that this was the last time she would be alone with these monsters.
I limped into the hallway, collapsing onto a plastic chair, my vision blurring. I needed a phone. I needed Jeremiah. My hands, slick with sweat and blood, fumbled in my pocket.
"Jeremiah," I whispered the moment he answered, my voice a jagged shard. "Now. It has to be now."
"I'm already in the elevator, Adelia," his voice was calm, steel-infused. "Security is with me. And the paramedics."
The elevator doors at the end of the corridor dinged softly. Jeremiah stepped out, flanked by two burly men in dark suits and a team of private EMTs pushing a gurney. He didn't look like the playful brother I grew up with; he looked like a predator. He strode toward me, his eyes taking in my bruised jaw, my hanging arm, the blood on my dress. His jaw tightened, a muscle feathering in his cheek.
"Did he do this?" Jeremiah asked, his voice terrifyingly quiet.
"He hit me," I managed. "And... he threatened the life support. He touched the machines, Jeremiah."
Jeremiah nodded once to the security guards. "Secure the room. No one enters or leaves until the transport is complete. If Mr. Hawkins resists, detain him for assault."
We moved into the room like a tactical unit. Emmett and Elisa were standing by the window, laughing softly. When the door burst open, Emmett spun around, his f
ace flushing with indignation.
"Who the hell are you?" Emmett demanded, stepping forward. "This is a private room! Get out!"
Jeremiah ignored him, signaling the EMTs to move toward Alexis. "We are transferring the patient, Alexis Murray, to a private facility under the care of her legal guardian."
"I am her legal guardian!" Emmett roared, moving to block the bed. "And I say she stays right here!"
Jeremiah stepped between Emmett and the bed. He was shorter than Emmett but broader, radiating a dangerous, contained energy. He held up a document. "Actually, as of forty minutes ago, when the emergency protective order was granted by Judge Halloway—based on evidence of medical negligence and physical threats—you are not to come within five hundred feet of Alexis Murray or Adelia Murray."
Emmett laughed, a harsh, incredulous sound. "A protective order? On what grounds? The ravings of a hysterical woman?"
"On the grounds of the video evidence," Jeremiah said smoothly.
Emmett froze. "What video?"
Jeremiah pointed to the corner of the room, to a small, blinking red light on a stuffed bear sitting on the shelf—a gift I had brought weeks ago. A nanny cam. "I inst
alled it last week, Emmett. The cloud upload is quite fast. We have you shaking her. We have you threatening to cut her oxygen. We have Gordon admitting to the assault. And we have you striking my sister."
The color drained from Emmett’s face so fast he looked like a corpse. Elisa let out a strangled gasp, pulling Gordon behind her.
"You... you can't..." Emmett stammered.
"I can, and I did," Jeremiah said. "The police are on their way to take a statement regarding the domestic assault. But right now, my priority is getting my family away from you filth."
The EMTs were efficient. In seconds, Alexis was transferred to the transport gurney, her monitors switching to portable battery packs. I walked beside her, my good hand resting on her ankle.
As we reached the door, Emmett found his voice again, desperate and venomous. "You think this is over, Adelia? You signed those papers! You signed the NDA! You signed the divorce agreement! I own everything! The house, the art, the money! You'll be destitute! You won't be able to afford a band-aid, let alone a private facility!"
I stopped. The pain in my shoulder was screaming, but a cold, hard strength flooded my spine. I turned slowly.
"I signed the papers you gave me, Emmett," I said, my voice dead calm. "But you were so eager to get back to your mistress, so eager to humiliate me, you didn't check which papers you signed."
Emmett frowned, confusion warring with his arrogance. "What are you talking about?"
"Jeremiah is a very good lawyer," I said. "And you are a very careless man."
I didn't wait for his reaction. I turned and walked out, leaving him in the silence of the empty room, the echo of his own destruction hovering in the air.
