Carter scrambled down the steep brick stairs, dropping to his knees beside Clara on the freezing cellar floor.
He pulled off his suit jacket, wrapping it around her shivering shoulders as she clung to his arms.
Carter: Clara, look at me. I've got you. You are safe now.
Clara: She took my phone... she forged my signature on the custody paperwork...
Carter: Don't talk right now. Conserve your energy. An ambulance is on the way.
Clara: No, you have to know... she wanted the trust fund. She told me you signed the divorce agreement.
Carter: I never signed anything! I was in Houston meeting with the hospital board for Lily's care fund!
Clara: She told me you loved her... that you wanted me dead so you wouldn't have to split the family estate...
Carter: That was a lie. Every single word was a lie. I have never stopped loving you.
Clara sobbed into his chest, her fingernails digging into his shirt as months of accumulated fear broke free.
Above them in the bright foyer, the sound of rapid, clicking heels echoed across the marble.
Marcus: Ma'am, do not move! I ordered you to stay where you are!
Evelyn: Get your hands off me, you minimum-wage rent-a-cop! Do you know who my father is?
Marcus: I don't care who your father is. Mr. Vance gave an order.
Carter carefully scooped Clara up into his arms, feeling how light and fragile she had become in just seventy-two hours.
He carried her up the brick stairs into the warm, sunlit foyer, stepping out onto the white marble floor.
Lily let out a joyous wail, running forward to press her small face against Clara's knees.
Lily: Mommy! You're back! You're really back!
Clara: My sweet baby... my brave girl...
Evelyn was backed up against the sweeping curved banister, her designer purse clutched in white-knuckled hands.
Carter: Set Clara on the sofa, Marcus. Keep Lily with her.
Marcus: Yes, sir.
Carter turned on Evelyn, his fists clenched at his sides as he closed the distance between them.
Evelyn: Don't you come near me, Carter. We had an agreement! The company was going bankrupt before my family stepped in!
Carter: You embezzled six million dollars from our foundation account, didn't you?
Evelyn: That was an investment! I was protecting our joint assets!
Carter: You manipulated the board, you filed false police reports, and you tried to starve my wife to death in a hole!
Evelyn: Clara was weak! She couldn't handle the high-profile lifestyle! I made you who you are in Dallas and Austin!
Carter: Open that purse.
Evelyn: You have no legal right to search my personal property!
Carter reached out and yanked the gold strap, tearing the leather bag right out of her hands.
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