Chapter 7 - The Cold Forge
""Get her out,"" Julian ordered, his voice frantic, manic with greed and adrenaline. ""Set up the portable monitor. Marcus said we have thirty minutes before the state police pick up the signal.""
Clara fought with every ounce of remaining strength, kicking violently as Julian tried to pull her from the leather seats. ""Don't touch me! Julian, you monster, this is your child!""
Julian didn't look at her belly; his eyes were hollowed out by fear and greed. ""It's the only way I survive, Clara! If Ravenwood doesn't get legal guardianship, he kills me! Sign the trust over to Eleanor and me, and they let you and the baby live!""
""Where's Lily?"" Clara suddenly shrieked, noticing the empty space in the back seat. ""Where is my daughter?!""
Around the corner of the vehicle, Eleanor emerged holding Lily by her wrist, dragging the sobbing child through the mud toward a padlocked office door. ""The girl stays locked up until the paperwork is filed,"" Eleanor spat, her hair matted, looking like a venomous shell of her former self.
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Julian shoved the stylus into Clara’s slick hand, forcing her trembling fingers over a digital signature pad while the paramedics strapped a blood-pressure cuff around her arm.
Suddenly, the exterior warehouse lights went dead. A single, distinct gunshot tore through the heavy silence outside, followed by the metallic crash of the compound gate.
