Chapter 2 - The Setup

"Don't you dare touch him!" I screamed, lunging upright. Pain tore through my bruised ribs like a jagged serrated blade, stealing my breath. "She pushed me! We have camera footage! We have the whole damn thing on the cloud!"
Detective Ray didn't even look at me. His eyes were locked on Julian with a practiced, predatory indifference. "Turn around, Julian. Hands behind your back. Don't make this ugly in front of your sick wife."
"Look at the laptop, Ray," Julian snarled, his chest heaving, his frame vibrating with sheer fury. "Look at the damn screen!"
Ray casually reached out with a gloved index finger and pressed the power button on the laptop. The screen went black.
"We’ll collect all digital evidence in accordance with chain of custody," Ray said smoothly. "Right now, you're coming with us for aggravated domestic assault and battery."
"You corrupt piece of garbage," Julian growled.
"Julian, stop!" I sobbed, clutching my belly as another sharp spasm locked my lower back. "Don't fight them. That’s what Evelyn wants. If you catch a felony charge, they can file for emergency custody of the baby the second he's delivered!"
Julian froze. His gaze flicked from Ray’s smirking face down to my tear-streaked cheeks. The realization struck him like cold water. Evelyn didn't just want the money; she wanted total control of the bloodline. A felony arrest on Julian’s record would give the family court all the ammunition they needed to declare us an unfit, violent household.
Julian raised his hands. "Fine. Cuff me."
"Julian, no!"
He looked back at me as the cold steel ratcheted around his wrists. "Clara. Listen to me. The yellow legal pad in the trunk of my car. Beneath the spare tire. Call the number on the back page. Do not talk to anyone else. Not the doctors. Not the nurses. *Nobody.*"
Ray shoved Julian hard toward the door. "Move."
As the heavy door swung shut behind them, silence descended on the hospital room, thick and suffocating. The only sound was the fragile *swish-swish* of the fetal monitor.
I lay back against the pillows, tears burning my temples, my entire body shaking with rage.
Then, from the depths of my overturned purse on the bedside table, a faint, rhythmic vibration began.
*Bzzzz. Bzzzz.*
It wasn't my phone. My iPhone was smashed in the hallway at home.
I reached out with trembling fingers, digging through the crumpled receipts and broken makeup compacts. My fingers brushed against cold plastic.
A black burner flip phone.
I had never seen it before in my life.
I flipped it open. A single text message glowed green against the monochrome display:
May you like
*Check your prenatal vitamins. Megan didn't just push you. She’s been in your medicine cabinet for six weeks.*
***