Chapter 7 - The Midnight Phone Call
The digital clock on the wall glowed a sharp 2:14 AM. The hospital corridor outside Maya's room was cloaked in shadows, save for the flickering fluorescent light of the nurses' station down the hall. Dr. Harrison stood by the door, acting as a human shield while keeping a watchful eye on the security cameras mounted in the corners. Maya sat upright in her bed, wincing as her bruised ribs strained against the movement. In her trembling hands, she clutched a burner smartphone that Dr. Harrison had smuggled in from his locked desk drawer.
"You have two minutes, Maya," Dr. Harrison whispered, not daring to turn around. "If night security makes their rounds down this wing, we are both finished."
Maya nodded, her thumb pressing the glowing buttons of the keypad with practiced speed. She dialed a number she knew by heart—a sequence of digits she hadn't used in over three years, belonging to the only person in the world smart enough and ruthless enough to dismantle Ethan's carefully constructed trap.
It rang once. Twice. Three times.
Just as Maya was about to give up in despair, a deep, raspy voice answered on the other end of the line.
"Who is this? Do you know what time it is?"
Tears instantly spilled over Maya’s bruised eyelids. "Lucas. Thank God."
There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line. The heavy sleepiness vanished from her brother's voice, replaced instantly by razor-sharp alertness. "Maya? Where are you? Ethan called me three days ago saying you both were in a terrible car accident, and that you were in a coma. He said... he said you probably wouldn't make it through the night."
"He lied," Maya whispered fiercely, pressing the phone tighter against her ear. "Ethan didn't just cause that crash, Lucas. He tried to murder me. And right now, he's trying to force me to sign divorce papers that will hand over everything I own while I'm trapped in this hospital bed."
Silence hung heavily over the phone line for three agonizing seconds. When Lucas spoke again, his voice was chillingly cold, devoid of any familial warmth, carrying only the terrifying precision of a forensic accountant who had just found an unbalancing entry in a ledger.
"Listen to me very carefully, Maya," Lucas said, his tone commanding absolute obedience. "Do not sign anything. Do not eat or drink anything they give you. Ethan transferred three million dollars out of your joint business accounts into an offshore shell company yesterday morning. I flagged the transaction, but I needed legal standing to freeze it. If you sign those divorce papers, that offshore account becomes legally untraceable."
Maya’s breath caught in her throat. Three million dollars. Ethan hadn't just wanted her out of the way for a new romance with Claire; he had been systematically looting her family's empire for months.
"How do we stop him?" Maya asked, wiping a tear from her swollen cheek.
"By letting him think he won," Lucas replied darkly. "Sign the papers, Maya."
Before Maya could scream in protest, a heavy pair of footsteps echoed sharply down the hallway outside her room, accompanied by the distinct jingle of a security guard's belt.
"I have to go!" Maya gasped.
"Trust me," Lucas whispered before the line went dead.
May you like
The door handle clicked down, and the silhouette of a tall man cast a long, menacing shadow across the floor as he stepped into the room.
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