The bright fluorescent lights of Saint Jude Memorial Hospital hummed quietly overhead. Clara lay in a private room on the maternity ward, hooked up to a heart monitor that beeped in a steady, reassuring rhythm. An ultrasound monitor sat beside her bed, displaying the clear image of a healthy baby moving gently in the womb.
Doctor Hayes: The baby's heart rate is perfectly stable, Mrs. Vance. Your blood pressure is returning to normal, and there are no signs of trauma or internal distress.
Clara: Thank God... Oh, thank God.
Ethan: Are you sure, Doctor? She was terrified when it happened.
Doctor Hayes: Thanks to your fast reaction, Mr. Vance, she didn't hit the stone steps. The tightness she felt was just a physical reaction to intense stress. A few days of bed rest and she'll be completely fine.
Ethan: Thank you, Doctor Hayes. Keep a security detail outside this door at all times.
Doctor Hayes: Of course. I'll leave you two alone to rest.
The doctor walked out, closing the heavy wooden door behind him. Ethan sat on the edge of the hospital bed, holding Clara's hand in both of his. The anger that had consumed him back at the mansion was replaced by deep relief.
Ethan: I should have never left for Chicago. I knew Victoria was getting bolder, but I never thought she would try something so violent.
Clara: You couldn't have known, Ethan. She was hiding it so well while you were around. The moment you left the state, she changed the security codes on the front gate and took my phone away.
Ethan: How did she get you to stay in the house?
Clara: She told me that my father left behind millions in unpaid corporate debt. She said if I tried to leave or contact a lawyer, the bank would seize the estate and throw me in prison for fraud.
Ethan: That's complete nonsense. Your father's estate was completely debt-free. His holdings were worth over fifty million dollars.
Clara: I didn't know what to believe... I was grieving, and my head was spinning from the pregnancy. I felt so completely alone until I found those hidden files in her study this morning.
Ethan: What files?
Clara: She didn't just forge my power of attorney, Ethan. She was draining my father's trust fund to pay off illegal gambling debts in Las Vegas. She lost three million dollars in the last two months alone!
Ethan's jaw tightened as he squeezed Clara's hand. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, tapping a contact on the screen.
Ethan: Marcus, this is Ethan Vance. I need you and your senior legal team in my office at nine tomorrow morning.
Marcus: What happened, Ethan? Is everything alright with the merger?
Ethan: Forget the merger. Victoria pushed Clara down the stairs to hide a three-million-dollar embezzlement scheme. I want full criminal charges filed by sunset tomorrow.
Marcus: Embezzlement and attempted assault on a pregnant woman? Ethan, she's looking at fifteen to twenty years in state prison if we take this to the district attorney.
Ethan: Good. Make sure she gets every single day of that sentence.
Marcus: I'll draft the emergency asset freeze right now. She won't be able to spend a single dime for a defense attorney.
Ethan: Thanks, Marcus. Keep me updated.
Ethan hung up the phone and set it on the nightstand. He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Clara's forehead, holding her face in his warm hands.
Ethan: Victoria is never going to touch this family again. I promise you that on my life.
Clara: I believe you, Ethan. I just want our home back. I want our baby to grow up in a place that feels safe.
Ethan: We're going to clean out every trace of Victoria from that mansion. It's going to be our home, just like your father wanted.