The mother slapped her daughter for "accidentally" hitting her in the stomach, shouting, "You're trying to kill my unborn child!" The daughter pulled a pillow from under her mother's shirt: "There's no baby, Dad! She's faking it so you won't divorce her for adultery!" The father looked at the pillow and slapped the mother: "You're lying about human lives? Pack your bags and get out!" The pillow fell to the floor. / Chapter 24 / 40

Chapter 24 - The Iron Boundary

Chloe walked briskly to Arthur's car, sliding into the passenger seat and locking the door.

Arthur immediately noticed her pale face and followed her gaze through the rain-slicked window, spotting Evelyn standing on the sidewalk, weeping pathetically.

A fierce, lethal protectiveness flared instantly in Arthur’s chest.

"Did she touch you?"

Arthur demanded, his voice dropping to a terrifying register.

"No,"

Chloe assured him, buckling her seatbelt.

"I told her to stay away."

Arthur didn't hesitate. He pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket and dialed his attorney.

"Mark, I need a permanent restraining order filed against Evelyn,"

Arthur ordered, his eyes never leaving the miserable figure in the rearview mirror as he drove away.

"She ambushed Chloe at her school. I want an iron wall built around my daughter by tomorrow morning. She is not to come within five hundred yards of either of us."