Chapter 4 - The Shadows Behind the Marriage
Nicholas spat a mouthful of blood onto the white tile floor, his eyes burning with pure venom. "You think... you think a punch changes anything, Colonel?" he wheezed, pushing himself up against the wall. "You don't know what your precious daughter has been doing. You don't know why she’s really here."
Rachel didn't flinch. She stepped closer to Abigail’s bed, gently placing a hand on her daughter’s trembling shoulder. The contrast was stark—the iron-clad soldier and the broken young woman.
"Mom," Abigail sobbed, clutching Rachel’s sleeve. "They took my phone... they took everything. They were going to make me sign away the evidence..."
"What evidence, Abigail?" Rachel asked, her voice dropping into a tender, protective tone she reserved only for her child. "Tell me."
"She’s lying!" Patricia shouted from the corner, though her voice lacked its previous venom, trembling with newfound fear. "She's unstable! She's been seeing psychiatrists for months! Nicholas has been trying to save her from herself!"
"Shut up, Patricia," Rachel commanded without even turning her head. The authority in her voice was so absolute that Patricia instantly snapped her mouth shut.
Abigail wiped a tear from her blood-stained cheek. "Nicholas didn't just push me, Mom. I found out why he married me three years ago. It wasn't because he loved me. It was because of Dad's estate."
Rachel’s eyes narrowed slightly. Her late husband, Abigail’s father, had been a brilliant aerospace engineer who passed away four years ago. He had left behind a massive blind trust and several sealed patents, which were supposed to remain untouched until Abigail turned twenty-eight.
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"They found out about the trust," Abigail continued, her voice trembling. "Nicholas and his mother have been slowly draining the accounts using forged signatures. When I caught him last night looking through my father's legal files in our home office... that's when he hit me."
👉 Nicholas let out a cold laugh from the floor, holding up the black flash drive. "You have no proof, Abigail. And as for your father's trust? It's already gone."
