Chapter 1 - The Voice on the Line
The silence in the kitchen was absolute.
Even the hum of the refrigerator seemed to fade away.
David stared at the phone in his hand.
The voice on the other end didn't belong to an old, helpless man.
It was a voice that commanded rooms, silenced courtrooms, and terrified seasoned attorneys.
"I said, identify yourself," the voice repeated, the tone dripping with lethal authority.
David swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat.
He tried to put on his best courtroom voice.
"This is David Montgomery," he said, puffing out his chest.
"I am an attorney at Harrison, Linus, and Vance."
"I am calling on behalf of my wife, Anna."
"She is having a bit of a mental episode, and we thought it best to inform her family."
A low, humorless chuckle echoed through the speaker.
It was the kind of laugh that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
"Mental episode?" the man asked quietly.
"Is that what you call it when you assault a pregnant woman?"
David froze.
Sylvia took a step back, her face draining of color.
"Who do you think you are talking to?" David snapped, his confidence cracking.
"I told you, I am a lawyer."
"I know exactly who you are, Mr. Montgomery," the voice replied smoothly.
"You are a third-year associate at a mid-tier firm."
"You bill roughly two thousand hours a year."
"And you are currently standing in your kitchen in Ea Hiao, thinking you hold all the cards."
David's eyes widened in sheer panic.
"How do you know that?" he demanded, his voice shaking.
"Because I know everything about the man who married my only daughter," the voice stated.
"I am Arthur Sterling."
"Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court."
The phone nearly slipped from David's trembling fingers.
His jaw dropped open.
His eyes darted frantically toward me, pleading for this to be a sick joke.
"No," David whispered, shaking his head.
"That's impossible."
"Anna is an orphan."
"She doesn't have a family."
"She chose privacy over privilege to see if a man would love her for who she was, not for what her family could give him," my father said coldly.
"It appears you failed the test."
I gripped the edge of the counter, fighting through another wave of agonizing pain.
"Dad," I gasped out, my voice cracking.
"Anna?" my father’s tone instantly shifted from cold fury to sheer panic.
"Honey, are you okay?"
"He broke my phone," I sobbed, tears finally streaming down my face.
"Sylvia pushed me into the counter."
"I'm bleeding, Dad."
"I think I'm losing the baby."
The silence on the line lasted for exactly two seconds.
When my father spoke again, it wasn't as a judge.
It was as an executioner.
"Mr. Montgomery," my father said, his voice deadly calm.
"I am currently dispatching a state police tactical unit and an advanced life support ambulance to your address."
"They are exactly three minutes away."
"If you or your mother touch my daughter again, I will ensure you spend the rest of your miserable lives in a federal penitentiary."
"Do not move."
"Do not breathe."
May you like
The call disconnected.
The silence that followed was deafening.
