Chapter 2 - The Ambush
Justin finally tried to call my cell phone the next morning, acting as if nothing serious had happened at the clinic.
I let the phone ring four times before finally pressing the green accept button.
"Clara, this silent treatment is incredibly immature and needs to stop right now," his arrogant voice demanded through the speaker.
"You embarrassed me in front of Vanessa, and you need to bring Maya back to our house immediately."
I maintained my absolute composure, refusing to give him the satisfaction of hearing me cry.
"I am not coming back to that house, Justin, and you are not seeing Maya today," I replied with chilling calmness.
I could practically hear the angry gears turning in his head as he realized I was not backing down.
"Listen to me very carefully, Clara," he threatened, his voice dropping to a dangerous, low register.
"If you do not bring my daughter home in the next hour, I am calling my lawyers to file for emergency full custody."
"I will tell the judge that you are mentally unstable, erratic, and a danger to our child."
Before I could formulate a response, Luke smoothly took the phone right out of my hand.
"Good morning, Justin," Luke said, his professional attorney voice dripping with absolute venom.
"This is Luke, and I am formally advising you that all future communication with Clara will go strictly through my law firm."
Justin stammered on the other end of the line, clearly completely caught off guard by my brother's sudden intervention.
"Luke, man, you don't understand, Clara is acting crazy and keeping my kid from me," Justin lied smoothly.
"We have high-definition security footage of your mistress assaulting Clara while she was holding an infant," Luke countered flawlessly.
"We also have a fully filed police report for battery, and statements from seven independent witnesses who watched you do absolutely nothing."
The line went dead silent as the sheer magnitude of Justin's catastrophic mistake finally began to dawn on him.
"Furthermore, if you attempt to access the house in Scottsdale, you will find that the locks have been legally changed."
"The property is in a trust controlled by Clara's family, a tiny legal detail you clearly forgot during your affair."
Justin started screaming curses through the phone, but Luke simply tapped the screen and ended the call.
Mark looked up from his laptop, tapping a few keys with a satisfied smirk on his face.
May you like
"I just locked him out of all the joint banking apps and froze his credit cards," Mark announced cheerfully.
The financial bleed had been stopped, but the real destruction of Justin's carefully built secret life was only just beginning.
