Chapter 6 - The Trap Collapses
"I am revoking bail for both Ryan Vance and Patricia Vance immediately!" Judge Montgomery ordered, her eyes burning with fury. "Bailiffs, take both defendants into custody right now!"
"No! Wait!" Ryan panicked, flailing as two heavy-set bailiffs grabbed his arms. "It was a mistake! She wouldn't give me the house! I lost everything in my business!"
"You're going to lose a lot more than that, Mr. Vance," Judge Montgomery snapped. "I am issuing a permanent, non-expiring protective order barring both defendants from coming within two thousand feet of Claire Vance or her child. Furthermore, I am referring this video directly to the District Attorney for immediate felony prosecution including attempted murder, aggravated assault on a pregnant female, and perjury."
Patricia began screaming hysterically as she was handcuffed. "You ungrateful little brat! We took you into our family! You destroyed my son!"
"Take them away!" Judge Montgomery barked.
The gallery watched in silence as Ryan and Patricia were dragged out of the courtroom in handcuffs, their high-society reputation destroyed in front of local press reporters who were already furiously typing on their laptops.
In my hospital room, I let out a long, trembling breath. Samantha looked into the camera monitor and smiled.
"Step one complete, Claire," Samantha said. "Now we move to step two: total financial liquidation."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Ryan thought he was hiding his corporate debt by trying to absorb your home," Samantha explained, walking out of the courtroom into the hallway to speak privately. "Our financial auditors just uncovered that Ryan has been running a massive fraudulent investment scheme using his mother's accounts. They didn't just push you into that pot out of anger, Claire—they were desperate for your home's equity to pay off federal loan sharks before Friday."
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I shook my head in disgust. "They were willing to kill my baby for money."
"And now the law is going to take everything they have left," Samantha said firmly. "Get ready, Claire. You're going to deliver that baby in absolute peace."
