CHAPTER 2 – THE FALL OF THE MORRISONS

The Morrisions didn’t leave gracefully.

They unraveled.

Diane screamed first.

“You can’t do this!” she shrieked, pointing at me. “This is extortion! Fraud! She’s lying—she’s always been a manipulative—”

Victor raised one hand.

Two guards immediately moved toward her.

Jessica burst into tears.

“Brendan, do something!” she sobbed. “This is insane!”

Brendan stood frozen.

Because for the first time in his life, he realized something terrifying.

He had no authority here.

Phones began vibrating.

One by one.

Diane’s first.

Then Brendan’s.

Then Jessica’s.

Brendan answered his.

“Hello?” His voice shook. “What do you mean my access card is disabled?”

His face went gray.

“My office?” he whispered. “My things?”

He lowered the phone slowly and looked at me.

“You planned this,” he said.

I nodded.

“For years.”

Jessica screamed.

“This is because you’re jealous!” she cried. “Because he chose me!”

I laughed.

“No,” I said. “This is because you stood on a woman you thought was powerless.”

Victor approached with a tablet.

“Ms. Hale,” he said, “financial forensic teams have flagged three shell accounts under the Morrison name. Evidence of embezzlement.”

Diane collapsed into a chair.

Brendan fell to his knees.

“I didn’t know,” he said desperately. “I swear—I didn’t know—”

I looked down at him.

“You laughed,” I reminded him. “That was enough.”

The contraction hit then.

Sharp.

Sudden.

I gasped and grabbed the table.

Victor reacted instantly.

“Medical,” he barked into his comm. “Now.”

Brendan reached for me instinctively.

I stepped back.

“Don’t touch me,” I said.

Jessica watched in horror as Victor draped a coat around my shoulders.

“You’re pregnant,” she whispered. “You were really pregnant…”

“Yes,” I said softly. “With the future you destroyed.”

As I was escorted out, I turned back once.

“Enjoy the investigation,” I said. “It’s very thorough.”

Behind me, the Morrison empire burned.