Chapter 1 - The Rescue
The headlights of two armored SUVs pierced the heavy Dallas storm.
I did not move from the wet curb as four men in dark suits stepped out into the pouring rain.
The lead security officer, a man named Harris, immediately draped a thick, warm coat over my freezing shoulders.
He gently guided me into the heated leather interior of the closest vehicle.
A private physician was already waiting in the back seat with a medical kit open.
She carefully shined a small light into my eyes and gently touched my bruised cheek.
The pain radiated through my jaw, but the numbness in my heart hurt far worse.
My phone vibrated on the leather seat next to me.
It was a text message from Grant.
He was completely oblivious to the hurricane of destruction my father was about to unleash on his life.
The message read that I was pathetic and would be begging to come back by morning.
I handed the cracked phone to Harris without saying a single word.
Harris plugged a decryption cable into the device and connected it to his tactical laptop.
He looked at me through the rearview mirror as the SUV sped toward my father’s estate.
He told me that Mr. Vance had already initiated the asset freeze protocols.
By the time we pulled through the towering iron gates of my childhood home, Grant’s personal bank accounts were completely locked.
My father was standing on the front porch despite the freezing rain.
Arthur Vance did not hug me immediately.
He looked at the six red marks slowly bruising the side of my pale face.
His eyes turned entirely black with a terrifying, silent rage.
He walked me inside the massive foyer and handed me a glass of warm brandy.
My father promised me that Grant Whitmore would not have a single penny to his name by sunrise.
I took a slow sip of the drink and finally felt safe for the first time in years.
Suddenly, my father’s personal cell phone began to ring with a restricted caller ID.
He put the phone on speaker and set it on the marble table.
Grant’s arrogant, slurring voice echoed through the grand hallway.
My husband laughed and said he knew my father was trying to freeze his assets.
Then Grant revealed something that made the blood freeze in my veins.
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He claimed he had secretly stolen highly classified shipping manifests from my father's private vault.
Grant promised to hand the illegal documents over to the federal authorities if I did not return home immediately.
