Chapter 1 - The First Strike
Amelia watched the heavy wooden door click shut as her husband left the hospital room.
He did not even glance back at the fragile incubators holding his newborn triplets.
Nathan had a corporate dinner to attend, or so he claimed.
Amelia knew he was rushing back to Vanessa’s hotel suite to finish celebrating her birthday.
The monitor beside her bed beeped steadily, a stark contrast to the absolute chaos inside her mind.
For years, she had played the role of the quiet, submissive wife to keep the peace.
She had let him take credit for her financial strategies and smiled politely at corporate galas while he flirted with other women.
But nearly bleeding to death on an operating table had completely shattered her illusions.
She picked up her phone and dialed Lucas Hale, the only attorney she trusted.
Lucas answered on the first ring, his voice laced with concern.
Amelia wasted no time on pleasantries.
She ordered Lucas to immediately freeze the discretionary accounts linked to her grandfather’s trust.
Those accounts were the lifeblood of Nathan’s lavish spending and Vanessa’s fake charity foundation.
Lucas warned her that Nathan would notice the freeze within hours.
Amelia stared through the glass at her three tiny, fighting children.
She told Lucas she was counting on it.
Two hours later, the door to her hospital room flew open violently.
Nathan stormed in, his face flushed with pure, unadulterated rage.
He demanded to know why his corporate credit cards had just been declined at a luxury jewelry boutique.
Amelia looked him dead in the eye and calmly stated that the company was undergoing a sudden financial audit.
Nathan grabbed her wrist, his grip painfully tight as he leaned over the bed.
He told her she had made a massive mistake by challenging his authority.
He reached into his tailored suit jacket and pulled out a folded legal document.
May you like
Nathan dropped the paper onto her lap with a cruel, mocking smile.
It was an emergency psychiatric hold signed by the hospital’s chief of medicine, declaring Amelia mentally unfit to care for her children.
