Chapter 31 - The Handcuffs Snap Again
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"You are violating the restraining order, Daniel," I said, keeping my arm rigid, my thumb resting firmly on the pepper spray trigger. "Leave now, or I will discharge this."
"I have nowhere to go!" Daniel cried out, tears cutting clean tracks through the dirt on his face. "The bank seized my rental apartment! The lenders took my phone! They beat me in an alley two days ago, Emma! They told me if I don't give them fifty thousand dollars by tomorrow, they're going to put me in the river!"
"That is a matter for the police, Daniel, not for me," I said, taking two steps backward toward the elevator doors.
"You took my father's money!" Daniel roared, his voice bouncing off the concrete walls as his desperation turned into explosive rage. "That twelve million dollars belonged to me! You stole my birthright!"
He lunged forward, reaching out with both hands to grab my coat.
I didn't panic. I stepped sideways, pressed the pepper spray actuator, and delivered a direct, stream into his open eyes.
Daniel let out a blood-curdling scream, dropping to his knees on the concrete, clutching his face as the burning chemical blinded him instantly.
"Aaagh! My eyes! My eyes!" he shrieked, rolling on the garage floor.
Before he could push himself back up, two heavy set men in dark suits burst out from the security office near the elevator. It was my private security detail—the team Julian Vance had insisted I hire three weeks ago.
They tackled Daniel to the floor, pinning his arms behind his back with surgical precision.
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"Building security! Stay down!" the lead guard shouted, snapping heavy zip-ties around Daniel's wrists.
I stood five feet away, wiping a stray drop of spray from my sleeve, watching my ex-husband writhe in the dirt.
