Chapter 3 - THE HIDDEN AGREEMENT
At St. Catherine’s Medical Center, doctors rushed Emma into an examination room.
Monitors were attached to her abdomen.
A rapid heartbeat filled the room.
Emma stared at the screen until the doctor finally spoke.
“The baby is stable.”
Relief swept through her so strongly that she began crying.
“But you have bruising around your ribs and lower back,” the doctor continued.
“We’re keeping you overnight for observation.”
Emma nodded.
“Whatever you need.”
Detective Reed arrived forty minutes later.
He waited until the nurse left before closing the door.
“You knew something might happen tonight,” he said.
Emma looked toward the rain sliding down the hospital window.
“I knew they were planning something.”
“What?”
She reached into her handbag, which a paramedic had brought from the mansion.
Inside was a sealed envelope.
She handed it to him.
Reed opened it and removed a photocopy of a legal agreement.
At the top were the words VOLUNTARY TRANSFER OF MARITAL ASSETS.
Detective Reed scanned the document.
“This transfers your voting shares in Sterling Biotech to your husband.”
“And gives the Sterling family control of my inheritance.”
“How much are we talking about?”
“Nearly eighty million dollars.”
Reed looked up.
Emma explained that her late father, Dr. Samuel Carter, had founded a medical research company.
Two years earlier, Sterling Biotech had purchased a controlling interest in the company.
Emma had inherited eighteen percent of Sterling Biotech as part of the deal.
Those shares were now worth more than anything Daniel’s family personally owned.
“Charles Sterling built his reputation on being a billionaire,” Emma said.
“But most of the family’s money is tied up in debt.”
“They need your shares.”
“Yes.”
“Why not simply ask you to sell?”
“They did.”
Emma remembered the family dinner three weeks earlier.
Charles had placed a pen beside her plate.
Margaret had told her that loyal wives did not keep separate financial power.
Daniel had begged her to sign, claiming the transfer would protect the company during a merger.
Emma had refused.
The next morning, she discovered that someone had searched her home office.
“Then the threats started,” she said.
“What kind of threats?”
“Anonymous messages.”
She handed Reed her phone.
One message read, SIGN BEFORE YOUR BABY ARRIVES.
Another read, ACCIDENTS HAPPEN IN LARGE HOUSES.
Detective Reed’s expression hardened.
“Why didn’t you leave?”
“I planned to.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
Emma explained that she had secretly arranged to meet a lawyer at seven thirty.
She had packed a suitcase and hidden it in Rosa’s car.
But Vivian discovered the bag.
The argument began when Vivian demanded to know where Emma was going.
“She tried to take my phone,” Emma said.
“I told her I had copies of everything.”
“And then she pushed you.”
“Yes.”
Reed placed the documents inside an evidence folder.
“Daniel told us he was at his office.”
“He wasn’t.”
“How do you know?”
Emma unlocked her phone and opened a tracking application.
Daniel had insisted they share their locations after Emma became pregnant.
He said it was for safety.
At six thirty, Daniel’s phone had been inside the Sterling family’s private hangar at Greenfield Airport.
“What was he doing there?” Reed asked.
“I don’t know.”
A knock sounded at the door.
Daniel entered carrying white roses.
He stopped when he saw Detective Reed.
“I need to speak to my wife alone.”
Reed stood.
“She decides that.”
Daniel looked at Emma.
“Please.”
Emma nodded once.
Detective Reed moved toward the hallway.
Before leaving, he said, “I’ll be right outside.”
Daniel placed the flowers on a table.
“I was terrified when I saw you.”
“You told the detective you were at work.”
Daniel sat beside the bed.
“I didn’t want my father to know where I had been.”
“The airport?”
His face changed.
Emma saw the answer before he spoke.
“You tracked me?”
“You demanded that I keep the location service active.”
Daniel rubbed both hands over his face.
“I was trying to fix this.”
“Fix what?”
“The company is collapsing.”
Emma stared at him.
Daniel confessed that Sterling Biotech had lost hundreds of millions of dollars after a failed drug trial.
Banks were preparing to call in loans.
The family needed Emma’s shares to secure emergency financing.
“My father believes the company can survive,” Daniel said.
“And you?”
“I believe we can save thousands of jobs.”
“So you wanted me to sign.”
“I wanted you to understand.”
“Did you know about the threats?”
Daniel remained silent.
Emma’s voice became colder.
“Did you know Vivian planned to frighten me?”
“No.”
“You hesitated.”
“I knew they wanted to pressure you.”
“How?”
Daniel looked toward the closed door.
“They planned to create evidence that you were unstable.”
Emma felt the room grow smaller.
“What kind of evidence?”
“Medical records.”
Daniel admitted that a private doctor paid by the Sterling family had prepared documents suggesting Emma suffered from severe prenatal anxiety and paranoid delusions.
If Emma refused to transfer the shares, the family planned to question her mental competence.
“They wanted control over my money,” Emma said.
“And my child.”
Daniel reached for her hand.
“I never agreed to that part.”
She pulled away.
“You knew enough.”
A shadow appeared beneath the hospital door.
Someone was standing outside.
Then the handle moved.
Detective Reed stepped in quickly.
The hallway was empty.
On the floor lay a folded note.
Reed picked it up with a gloved hand.
May you like
Three words had been written in red ink.
THE BABY IS NEXT.
