Chapter 2 - THE HOSPITAL THREAT
The ambulance ride felt like an eternity.
I sat in the back with Lily, holding her tiny hand as the paramedic cleaned her wound.
She needed twelve stitches to close the deep gash on her temple.
The emergency room doctor told me she had a mild concussion, but thankfully, no permanent brain damage.
I sat beside her hospital bed, watching her finally fall into a peaceful, medicated sleep.
My phone had been buzzing nonstop for three hours.
I had over fifty missed calls from my parents, my aunts, and my cousins.
Suddenly, the heavy door to Lily's hospital room swung open.
My mother and father walked in, looking completely exhausted and furious.
They didn't ask how Lily was doing.
They didn't even look at the bandages wrapped around her fragile head.
"Do you have any idea what you have done?" my father demanded in a harsh whisper.
"Harrison is sitting in a holding cell wearing a tuxedo."
"His bride walked out of the hotel and drove away with her family."
"The wedding is completely ruined, Claire."
I slowly stood up from my chair and faced the two people I used to call my parents.
"Harrison ruined his own wedding the second he decided to attack a child," I replied coldly.
My mother pulled a thick, white envelope out of her designer purse and tossed it onto the hospital bed.
"There is a cashier's check in there for one hundred thousand dollars," she said flatly.
"You are going to take that money, Claire."
"You are going to call the district attorney in the morning and tell them you refuse to testify."
"You will say that you provoked him and that it was a chaotic accident."
I stared at the envelope, feeling a wave of absolute nausea wash over me.
They were literally trying to buy my silence while my daughter lay bleeding just inches away.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone.
I pressed a button and the screen lit up, showing a voice recording application actively capturing every word.
"Are you offering me a financial bribe to drop felony charges against your son?" I asked clearly.
My father's eyes widened in sheer panic.
"Turn that off right now!" he yelled, stepping toward me.
I pressed the nurse call button on the wall and held my ground.
"Get out of this hospital room before I have security drag you out," I commanded.
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"And if you ever come near my daughter again, I will hand this recording straight to the police."
They backed away, realizing that the obedient daughter they had bullied for years was permanently gone.
