Chapter 3My Madness, His Million-Dollar Hit

Siren wails sliced through the schoolyard air. Two uniformed officers pushed through the crowd.

"Who reported the incident?"

Victor stepped forward, his face a mask of weary distress. "Officer, I did. This is my ex-wife. She suffers from severe schizophrenia and was recently released from Havenwood. She just assaulted my pregnant fiancée and almost harmed our child."

Sienna whimpered, leaning heavily on Victor. "My stomach hurts so much... She kept kicking me..."

The other parents chimed in. "Yes, we saw it! She attacked like a rabid dog! Lock her up before she hurts our kids!"

The officer turned to me.

I struggled to my feet, my dislocated wrist throbbing with fresh agony. I pulled a crumpled, blood-stained paper from my pocket. "I am not sick. This is my discharge paper from Havenwood. I attacked her because she was abusing my daughter! Check the school's security cameras!"

The officer took the paper. Victor stepped close and whispered a few words. The officer's expression shifted to one of deference. "Mr. Creston, we'll handle this according to protocol."

He turned back to me, his tone icy. "We need to verify the authenticity of this document. Right now, you're being detained for assault and disturbing the peace. Come with us."

He clicked a pair of handcuffs around my functional wrist.

"I didn't do anything wrong!" I screamed, but the other officer shoved me toward the police cruiser. "Save it. Even crazy people have to face the law."

As the doors slammed shut, I looked through the tinted glass. Victor was kissing Sienna's forehead, and Sienna peeked over his shoulder, flashing me a triumphant, mocking smile. Her lips formed the words: You lose.

In the interrogation room, there were no windows, just a blinding overhead light. It triggered memories of the isolation rooms at Havenwood, and panic gripped me.

"Name."

"Kathy Barrett."

"Why did you assault Sienna?"

"I told you, she was abusing my daughter! Did you check the cameras?"

The detective flipped a page. "We checked. It was a blind spot. Nothing was recorded. Meanwhile, the victim's medical report shows a concussion and soft tissue damage. Mr. Creston's lawyer is prepared to file charges of felony assault. If you don't sign this settlement agreement and promise to stay away from them forever, they will prosecute. Given your psychiatric history, you'll likely be committed to a high-security asylum indefinitely."

Indefinitely.

The word crushed me. I looked at the photos of Sienna's bruised face and laughed until tears ran down my cheeks. Of course. Victor was practically untouchable in Riverford now. Erasing a security tape was child's play for him.

I spent forty-eight hours in a holding cell. No food, only cold tap water. My untreated wrist swelled to twice its size. Just when I thought they were going to cart me off to a state asylum, the heavy steel door opened. A lawyer in an expensive suit walked in. "Ms. Barrett, Mr. Creston has decided to drop the charges. You're free to go."

I was stunned. Victor, showing mercy?

When I stepped outside the station, a black Rolls-Royce was idling at the curb. The window rolled down to reveal Victor smoking a cigar. "Get in."

I hesitated, wary.

"Don't worry, I'm not taking you back to the asylum," he said, flicking the ash. "But if you don't get in, I guarantee you will never see your father alive again."

My blood ran cold. "My father? You told me he died in the ICU four years ago!"

"If you want the truth, get in."

I gritted my teeth and got in. The car smelled of Sienna's perfume. We drove to a private hospital's VIP wing. Victor led me to a sterile room. Through the glass, I saw a frail, skeletal man hooked up to a ventilator. My father. Once a prominent real estate mogul, now reduced to a living corpse.

"He's alive?" Tears spilled over. "You lied to me!"

"If you knew he was alive, you wouldn't have lost all hope and stayed quiet in Havenwood for four years," Victor said coldly. "I've spent hundreds of thousands keeping him alive on experimental drugs. But the family company's remaining shares are now in Sienna's name. Except for the last five percent of original shares. Sign them over to me, or I pull his plug today."