CHAPTER 4: THE CALL
The phone rang three times before my attorney answered.
"Evelyn. I was wondering when you'd call."
Jonathan Sterling wasn't just my attorney. He was the most powerful lawyer in the Midwest, a man who had never lost a case. He'd been my friend since I'd helped his mother through her final illness, and he'd been waiting for this moment.
"Jonathan, I need to move on the Holloways."
"All of it?"
"All of it. The real estate, the supply chain, the investments, the shell companies. Everything."
"Grant finally went too far?"
"He had his mother beat Hannah while he watched."
Silence.
Then Jonathan spoke.
"I'll have the paperwork ready by morning. But Evelyn, once we start, there's no going back. They'll fight dirty."
"Let them. I've been fighting dirty my whole life."
"What about your daughter? Is she safe?"
"She's with me. She's safe."
"Good. I'll call you when everything's in motion."
I hung up and turned to Hannah.
"What was that?" she asked.
"That was the beginning of the end."
"What are you going to do?"
I sat down across from her.
"Grant and Margaret built their empire on the belief that they were untouchable. They thought their money made them powerful, their name made them protected, and their connections made them invincible."
"Aren't they?"
"No. Because they built everything on borrowed ground. The real estate they occupy? I own it. The supply chain they depend on? I control it. The investors who prop them up? I'm the largest one they've never met."
Hannah's face was a mixture of shock and hope.
"Mom, how long have you been planning this?"
"Since the day you told me you were marrying Grant. I had a feeling about him. And I was right."
"You knew he was like this?"
"I knew he was cold. I knew his mother was vicious. I didn't know how far they'd go. But I was prepared for the possibility."
She was quiet for a long time.
"Mom, I don't deserve you."
"Yes, you do. You deserve everything I can give you. Now let's get you cleaned up and plan our next move."
I helped her to the bathroom and watched her wash the blood from her face.
May you like
Tomorrow, the war would begin.
Tonight, I would hold my daughter and remind her she wasn't alone.
