Chapter 48 - The War Room
The moment Victor’s SUV pulled away, I locked the front door, pulled the blinds, and flipped the sign to Closed.
Hannah was trembling, not out of fear, but out of pure, unadulterated fury. "He wants to take her, Mom. He wants to drag her back into that limestone prison."
"He is never going to take her," I said, my voice dropping to a low, lethal register. The peace I had enjoyed for five years evaporated, replaced entirely by the cold, tactical mindset of the survivor who had brought down his brother.
I picked up the phone and dialed Arthur Sterling.
Within an hour, the diner had transformed from a sanctuary into a war room. Arthur sat at the counter, his tie loosened, rapidly scanning the documents Victor had left behind, while David stood guard by the back door, a heavy iron wrench resting on the counter beside him.
"Victor isn't bluffing about the land acquisition," Arthur said grimly, looking up from his laptop. "He used a shell company out of Luxembourg. He technically holds the lease to this entire block. He can initiate an emergency eviction."
"And the custody threat?" I demanded.
"It’s a nightmare," Arthur rubbed his temples. "The Holloway Trust is archaic. He can’t physically take Maya today, but he can tie Hannah up in family court for a decade. He’ll drain your finances, freeze your assets, and drag your names through the mud until you’re too broke to afford a lawyer. He’s trying to starve you into submission."
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I looked at Hannah, who was gently rocking Maya in the booth. I had spent my life escaping the Holloway monsters. I was not going to let them steal the next generation.
"He thinks money is his shield," I said, a dark, dangerous plan forming in my mind. "But I know how the hollow men operate. I know where they hide their skeletons. We are going to break his shield."
