Chapter 2 - COLD WAR IN HIGH SOCIETY
The black SUV screeched to a halt right in front of the marble steps. The driver's side door flew open, and Julian stepped out. He wore a crisp dark suit, his eyes burning with absolute fury as he swept past Daniel and Vivian without giving them a second glance.
"Clara," Julian whispered gently, his voice instantly softening as he wrapped a heavy cashmere coat around my shivering shoulders. He looked down at my drenched, swollen feet and the bloodstains seeping through my coat dress. "My God. What did they do to you?"
"Get her into the car, Julian. Please," I whispered, my energy completely depleted. "Just get us out of here."
Julian gently lifted Lily’s baby carrier into his arm while keeping his other arm tightly supported around my waist.
"Stop right there!" Daniel shouted from the doorway, trying to maintain his authority. "Julian, you can't just take my wife and daughter out of my house! I have an investment dinner in two hours! Clara needs to be here!"
Julian stopped at the car door. He turned slowly, his gaze locking onto Daniel with a cold, predatory focus that made Daniel take an instinctual step back.
"Daniel," Julian said, his voice deadly quiet. "If you take one more step toward my sister, I will personally file an emergency restraining order, an aggravated assault charge, and a spousal abuse claim before your dinner guests even park their cars. Try me."
Daniel stood frozen on the porch as Julian helped me into the heated leather backseat, closed the door, and drove away from the Hale estate without looking back.
Inside the mansion, panic immediately set in. Vivian paced back and forth across the wet marble floor, wringing her hands.
"Daniel! What are we going to do?" Vivian gasped. "Vanguard Capital's managing director, Mr. Sterling, explicitly said he wanted to meet Clara tonight! He praised her family's historical legacy during the initial pitch! If she's not here, how are you going to explain it?"
Daniel wiped his bruised wrist, his face darkening. "We tell them she had a sudden postpartum complication and was rushed back to the hospital. We play the devoted, worried husband. Sterling will feel sorry for me."
"Yes... yes, that's it!" Vivian nodded eagerly. "We blame her health! And tomorrow, we go to her apartment and force her to come back. She has nowhere else to go anyway."
Meanwhile, Julian drove straight to a private medical clinic owned by a close family friend. Within minutes, I was lying in a warm, pristine hospital bed, attended to by top obstetricians who immediately treated my severe inflammation, cleaned my surgical wounds, and gave me IV fluids and iron supplements.
As I lay resting, watching little Lily sleep peacefully in her bassinet, Julian sat by my bedside with a thin yellow notepad.
"The doctor said if you had stayed in that house for another six hours doing physical labor, you would have suffered a life-threatening uterine rupture," Julian said, his knuckles white as he gripped his pen. "Clara, you are filing for divorce. And I am going to make sure Daniel Hale doesn't retain a single copper penny."
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"I don't care about his money, Julian," I said, tears filling my eyes as I reached over to touch Lily’s tiny fingers. "I just want my daughter. I want us to be safe."
"You will be," Julian vowed. "And tomorrow, we unleash the truth."
