Chapter 9 - The Standoff
I fully expected to see heavily armed FBI agents or more hospital staff.
Instead, Vivian Cross stepped gracefully into the small hospital room.
She wore a pristine white designer suit and a diamond necklace that cost more than a luxury house.
Noah and Caleb were holding tightly onto her manicured hands.
"Mommy!" they yelled happily in unison.
They quickly broke away from Vivian and ran straight into my open arms.
I squeezed them so hard I legitimately thought my ribs might crack under the pressure.
I frantically checked their small bodies for any hidden signs of harm.
They were perfectly fine, completely oblivious to the vicious war happening around them.
Damian confidently stepped between his mother and his newly reunited children.
"You have precisely five seconds to explain why you are here before I completely ruin your life," Damian warned.
Vivian did not look intimidated in the absolute slightest.
She elegantly smoothed a completely nonexistent wrinkle from her expensive skirt.
"The Blackwood files will not save you, Damian," she smiled warmly.
"I secretly transferred all those illegal assets into a shell company under your exact name three years ago."
"If the FBI investigates now, you are the one going straight to federal prison."
Damian went incredibly still.
His own mother had masterfully framed him for international crimes just to keep him on a tight leash.
"You are an absolute monster," I hissed at her from my spot on the floor.
Vivian finally looked down at me, her sharp eyes filled with pure disgust.
"I am merely a protector of the Cross family legacy," she corrected me.
"I will not let my precious grandsons be raised by a poverty-stricken nobody."
She pulled a neatly folded piece of paper from her expensive leather handbag.
"Sign full legal custody over to me right now," she demanded.
"If you refuse, I will have the FBI arrest Damian before he can even walk out of this hospital."
"And you will definitely go to jail as his willing accomplice."
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I looked desperately at Damian, waiting for him to pull another brilliant strategy out of thin air.
But Damian just stared blankly at the floor in utter defeat.
