Chapter 1 - The Storm and the Arrival
The silence in the bedroom was absolutely suffocating.
Gavin stared at me, his eyes wide with a mixture of shock and sheer fury.
He actually thought I was bluffing.
He thought I was just a dependent housewife trying to throw a desperate tantrum.
But the dial tone echoing from my phone proved otherwise.
Charlotte stopped sipping her wine and stood up straight.
"Who did you just call, Sabrina?" Gavin demanded, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
"I called the man you have spent six years calling a washed-up loser," I replied calmly.
Gavin lunged forward and snatched the phone from my hand.
He frantically checked the call log.
When he saw the name of the Sterling Meridian committee chairman, all the color drained from his face.
"You have no power here!" he shouted, throwing my phone against the marble wall.
The screen shattered into a dozen pieces.
"Get out of my house," Gavin snarled, his fists shaking with rage.
"You signed the papers, so you have absolutely nothing left."
He grabbed my arm, his grip bruising my skin, and dragged me toward the bedroom door.
I didn't scream.
I didn't fight back.
I simply let him drag me down the hallway of the penthouse.
He threw me out the front door into the private elevator lobby.
Charlotte tossed a cheap gym bag full of my old clothes out after me.
"Good luck paying for a taxi, Sabrina," Charlotte laughed cruelly.
The heavy mahogany doors slammed shut in my face.
I took the elevator down to the lobby and walked out into the freezing Minneapolis night.
The rain was pouring down in absolute sheets.
I stood on the sidewalk, completely soaked, clutching my small bag to my chest.
I had no money, no credit cards, and no phone.
A few pedestrians rushed past me under their umbrellas, avoiding my gaze.
I felt completely numb.
Then, the piercing headlights of two massive black SUVs cut through the darkness.
They splashed through the puddles and aggressively blocked the street right in front of me.
The back door of the lead vehicle swung open.
A tall man in a tailored dark suit stepped out into the pouring rain, holding a large black umbrella.
He walked directly toward me and stopped a respectful distance away.
"Ms. Miller," the man said, bowing his head slightly.
I looked at him in total confusion.
May you like
"My name is Julian," he explained, opening the rear door of the SUV.
"Your father sent us to bring you home."
