Chapter 10 - THE VOICE ON THE UNCONNECTED LINE
A cold sweat broke out across Elowen's back.
Everything suddenly clicked into horrific clarity. The isolation, the way Mara constantly tried to push her away from the baby, Kael's increasing detachment—they never intended for Elowen to raise Leo. The moment the trust paperwork was finalized on Leo's first-month milestone, Elowen was meant to be removed from the equation entirely, framed as an unfit, mentally unstable mother.
BRRRRRRR.
The sudden vibration of a phone on the nursery floor made Elowen jump out of her skin.
She looked down. Sitting beside the fallen folder was an old, black burner flip-phone that must have dropped from Mara’s trench coat when she rushed out of the nursery.
The screen illuminated with an unknown caller ID from an international number.
Elowen picked up the phone with shaking fingers and flipped it open, pressing it to her ear without saying a word.
"Mara?" a deep, foreign-accented man's voice spoke through the speaker. "The transport team is at the harbor pier in Sector 4. Is the asset secured?"
Elowen held her breath, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird.
"Mara, answer me," the voice snapped, growing sharp and impatient. "The judge signed the emergency custody transfer order two hours ago based on the medical reports you filed. If the child is not on the boat by 3:00 AM, the local authorities will freeze the trust accounts."
Elowen closed her eyes as tears spilled down her cheeks.
The arrest hadn't stopped them. Kael’s domestic assault charge was just a minor delay in a massive, pre-planned abduction scheme backed by forged legal documents.
"She's not here," Elowen whispered into the phone, her voice dropping into a hard, protective register she didn't know she possessed.
A heavy pause hung over the line.
"Who is this?" the voice demanded.
"The mother," Elowen said, looking over at her sleeping baby boy in the crib. "And if any of your people come near my son, I will burn your entire trust to the ground."
May you like
Elowen slammed the flip-phone shut, pulled Leo from his crib, and wrapped him in her jacket.
She wasn't going to wait for the police or the courts to protect them. She was taking her child and running into the night.
