Chapter 2 - Escape From Hell|
The air in the courtroom seemed to freeze solid. Judge Carter's jaw dropped, his wooden gavel still suspended in mid-air.
Eleanor slowly turned her head, shooting Julian a glare sharp enough to slice his throat.
“A bottom-feeder like you,” she said, her voice low and ice-cold, “does not have the right to speak my daughter's name.”
Julian swallowed hard, his previous smirk entirely wiped from his face. He stammered, stepping back.
“But... but Mrs. Sterling, there must be some mistake here. She has nothing. I just divorced her...”
“And that is the biggest mistake of your pathetic life,” Eleanor interrupted.
She turned back to me, her gaze softening so drastically it made my chest ache. I took a step back, my hands instinctively wrapping around my baby bump.
“Who are you?” I whispered, my throat parched. “I don't have a mother. I was abandoned at a fire station when I was a newborn.”
“I know, Clara. I know everything. And I will explain it all. But not in this filthy place.”
With that, Eleanor unclasped her flawless white cashmere coat and gently draped it over my shoulders. Its luxurious warmth enveloped me, chasing away the bone-chilling cold of the room. She signaled to her guards.
“Escort the young miss to the car. Be careful with the baby.”
Two massive bodyguards approached, shielding me with a level of reverence I had never experienced in my entire life. As we walked toward the doors, Julian’s desperate voice echoed behind us.
“Clara! You can't just leave! We still have unresolved asset divisions!”
Eleanor paused. Without even turning around, she slightly tilted her head toward the elite lawyer standing by her side.
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“Take over this case. I want that bastard left without a single penny to his name before sunset tomorrow.”
And just like that, I walked out the doors, leaving behind the man who had just declared me worthless, and stepped into a bulletproof Rolls-Royce waiting by the curb. My entire life had just been flipped upside down in less than ten minutes.
