Chapter 3 - Escape Into the Blizzard
Outside the luxury tower, a ferocious December snowstorm whipped through the city streets. Lauren pushed the double stroller through two inches of fresh snow, her barefoot feet shoved hastily into an old pair of winter boots, her body shivering beneath a fleece jacket.
Her phone in her pocket began vibrating continuously. Cole Calling... Cole Calling... Cole Calling.
She ignored every chime, pulling the stroller into the back of her modest silver sedan parked around the corner. She carefully secured Lily and Noah into their car seats, checking their tiny foreheads. Lily was still flushed and burning, her breathing shallow.
Lauren started the engine, her hands shaking so hard she could barely engage the gear shift. She didn't drive to her mother's house, and she didn't drive to her best friend's apartment. She knew Cole would check those places first.
Instead, she drove straight toward the pediatric emergency room at St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital downtown.
As the hospital nurses immediately swept the babies into an examination room to administer intravenous fluids and fever reducers, Lauren sat in the sterile hallway, her phone buzzing on the plastic chair beside her.
Cole had left forty-two frantic voicemails and over sixty text messages ranging from sobbing apologies to furious demands to know where his children were.
Lauren deleted every single text without reading them. Then, she pulled up her contacts and dialed a number she hadn't called in three years: her late father's corporate legal representative, attorney Evelyn Vance.
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"Evelyn," Lauren said, her voice dropping into a cold, steady tone that surprised even herself. "It happened. I need you to activate the trust protections immediately."
👉 Read PART 4 to learn the massive secret about Lauren's family that Cole never suspected!
