Chapter 2 – The Men Who Arrived Before Dawn
Chapter 2 – The Men Who Arrived Before Dawn
The apartment door burst open less than eight minutes later.
Not Matthew.
Three members of my father's executive security team.
Behind them came two paramedics carrying medical bags.
No one wasted time asking permission.
One security officer knelt beside me while another photographed every shattered piece of glass, every bloodstain on the marble floor, every welt crossing my back.
"Don't move, Ms. Sterling."
His voice remained calm.
Professional.
The paramedics carefully examined my arm.
One exchanged a worried glance with the other.
"I think her wrist is fractured."
I barely heard them.
The elevator chimed again.
Heavy footsteps crossed the hallway.
Then my father appeared.
For seven years, I had imagined what this moment might look like.
Anger.
Disappointment.
Silence.
Instead, Richard Sterling dropped to his knees beside me without caring that his tailored coat soaked up blood and water from the floor.
His hand trembled as he brushed my hair away from my face.
"My little girl..."
Those three words hurt more than every strike Matthew had delivered.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
"You survived."
His eyes never left mine.
"That's all that matters."
When detectives arrived minutes later, my father stepped back.
"This investigation belongs to them," he said quietly.
"I want every fact documented."
No threats.
No demands.
Only evidence.
As the ambulance carried me toward the hospital, I watched Manhattan disappear behind rain-speckled windows.
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For the first time in years...
I wasn't facing the future alone.
