Chapter 4 - The Legal Weapon
By 8:00 AM, the fever had finally broken. Sophie opened her eyes, the glassy, confused look gone, replaced by her usual bright curiosity. "Mommy? Where are we?"
"We're in a safe place, sweetie. The doctors are fixing your tummy hurt," I said, kissing her forehead.
The door opened, and Marcus walked in. He looked exhausted, his tie loosened, but his eyes were fierce. He didn't say a word at first; he just wrapped me in a hug so tight I felt the broken pieces of my spirit start to align again. When he pulled back, his gaze locked onto the bruise on my face. His knuckles turned white.
"I've already pulled the police report and spoken to the district attorney's office," Marcus said, sitting at the small table in the corner of the room. "Evan’s mother bailed him out an hour ago. She hired Arthur Vance—one of the most expensive family law attorneys in the city."
"Vance is ruthless," I whispered, fear creeping back into my throat. "He’ll try to take Sophie away from me."
"Not on my watch," Marcus said, opening his laptop. "They’re going to play the 'doting father who panicked' angle. They'll claim you were hysterical and that the slap was an accident or self-defense. But we have something they don't expect: the smart home logs."
I blinked. "What?"
"The Reed house is fully automated, Natalie. It has smart security cameras in the hallway and the kitchen, synced to a cloud server. Evan pays for the premium package that backs up everything instantly. As your legal representation, I’ve already filed an emergency motion to preserve that footage before they can delete it. If that video shows what I think it shows, Evan won't just lose custody—he’s going to state prison."
Just then, my phone began to buzz. It was an unknown number. Marcus nodded at me to answer it and hit record on his own device.
"Natalie," Evan’s voice came through the speaker, devoid of the anger from last night, replaced by a terrifyingly smooth, manipulative tone. "Sweetheart, let’s not ruin our lives over a misunderstanding. Sophie is fine, right? I was just stressed about the dinner. You know how my mother gets. Come home. We can handle this as a family. If you don't drop the charges, the court will get messy, and nobody wants Sophie to see her mother lose everything."
Marcus pointed to the phone, signaling me to speak.
"You slapped me, Evan. You tried to stop me from saving our daughter," I said, my voice steadying.
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"It was a frantic situation, Natalie! You were screaming," he snapped, the mask slipping for a fraction of a second. "Don't be vindictive. Think about my career. Think about my mother’s health. Come home today, or I will make sure you regret it."
"Goodbye, Evan," I said, and hung up. Marcus smiled, a cold, dangerous smile. "Excellent. He just violated the protective order by contacting you, and he threatened you. I’m sending this straight to the DA."
