Chapter 3 - The Race Against Time
I stared at the terrifying video feed as panic completely overwhelmed my shattered ribs.
I typed a frantic text message to Mara, begging her to lock herself inside the courthouse immediately.
The typing indicator on my screen vanished just as the live video feed abruptly disconnected.
I held my breath and waited for what felt like an eternity.
My phone finally buzzed with a quick text from Mara confirming she was safe and had spotted the man following her.
She explained that she had retreated to the security office and requested a police escort to her vehicle.
Julian was escalating the situation faster and more violently than I had ever anticipated.
He clearly realized that I was freezing the corporate accounts and was trying to stop the legal filings.
I knew the hospital was no longer a safe place for me to recover.
Nurse Evelyn returned to my room and noticed the sheer terror written across my pale face.
I confessed everything to her and pleaded for her help to escape the facility unseen.
Evelyn did not hesitate or ask for a detailed explanation.
She quietly revealed that her own sister had died in a domestic violence situation five years ago.
She pulled a spare set of medical scrubs from the supply closet and handed them to me.
I painfully changed out of my hospital gown while Evelyn prepared a wheelchair.
She covered my bruised face with a surgical mask and draped a blanket over my lap.
We navigated the quiet service corridors, avoiding the main lobby where Julian was likely waiting.
We finally reached the underground loading dock where a medical transport van was idling.
Evelyn helped me into the back of the van and handed me a prepaid burner phone.
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Just as the van began to pull away, my burner phone rang with a restricted number.
I answered it, and a deep, mechanical voice told me that Julian was not the man I thought he was.
