Chapter 2
The photograph had been taken less than twenty minutes earlier.
Someone had entered my hospital room while I slept.
The hallway cameras showed nothing.
For twelve minutes, every recording on the maternity floor had been replaced with a frozen image of an empty corridor.
Harrison immediately requested police protection.
Detective Nora Hayes arrived with two officers.
She examined the photograph, the envelope, and the underside of my bed.
Someone had attached a tiny listening device to the frame.
“This was planned,” she said.
“Richard has been in custody since the courthouse,” I replied.
“He may not be working alone.”
Harrison looked toward the door.
“The judge.”
Judge Malcolm Voss had denied my protection request despite the bank records and threatening messages.
He was also Richard’s former law professor.
During the hearing, Voss repeatedly interrupted Harrison and refused to admit evidence from our company’s accountant.
At the time, I thought the judge was arrogant.
Now his decisions looked deliberate.
My phone rang from an unknown number.
A man’s distorted voice came through.
“Withdraw the divorce petition.”
Harrison activated the recorder on his phone.
“Who is this?” I asked.
“Your husband made promises. You will honor them.”
“What promises?”
“The child belongs to the Vale family.”
My stomach turned.
Richard’s full name was Richard Vale.
His family owned a private medical company, three nursing facilities, and a foundation that funded judicial campaigns.
“What does my baby have to do with Richard’s business?”
The caller laughed.
“Ask your brother why he really became your attorney.”
The line disconnected.
I looked at Harrison.
“What did he mean?”
“Nothing.”
“You hesitated.”
He closed his eyes.
Six months earlier, one of Harrison’s clients had accused Vale Medical of falsifying clinical records.
The client disappeared before trial.
Harrison suspected Richard arranged it.
He took my divorce case because he believed my company files might contain evidence.
“You used my case to investigate him?”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You should have told me.”
“You were pregnant, and Richard was watching your accounts and messages.”
The explanation made sense.
That did not make the secret hurt less.
Detective Hayes examined the listening device.
It had a serial number used by Sentinel Court Security.
That company maintained cameras at the courthouse and hospital.
Its owner was Vanessa’s father, Conrad Blake.
The woman who pushed me was not simply Richard’s mistress.
Her family controlled the systems that could erase the evidence.
But Vanessa had not known about one camera.
A reporter outside the courthouse had been filming a live segment when she shoved me.
The attack had aired in the background.
By evening, millions of people had seen it.
Richard’s family could not erase every copy.
The state attorney general announced an investigation.
Judge Voss temporarily suspended the assault case, claiming publicity could prejudice potential jurors.
Then he ordered Richard released on home confinement.
Vanessa was released too.
Harrison slammed the court order onto the table.
“Voss is protecting them.”
Detective Hayes’s phone rang.
She stepped into the hallway.
When she returned, her face had changed.
“Harrison, your office is on fire.”
We arrived after firefighters extinguished the flames.
His files were destroyed.
The safe had been forced open.
Only one folder was missing.
Vale Medical.
Then an officer discovered Harrison’s accountant inside the records room.
He was alive but unconscious.
When he woke, he whispered one name.
“Emily.”
I stepped closer.
He pressed a flash drive into my hand.
“Your husband did not marry you for your company.”
May you like
“Then why?”
“He married you for your baby.”
