Chapter 20 - A Mysterious Text Message Shatters Our Hard Won Peace
It was a quiet Friday evening in our new Charleston home, and Noah was already fast asleep upstairs in his room.
I sat on the front porch rocking chair, sipping a cup of chamomile tea while watching the sunset over the harbor.
Suddenly, my personal cell phone buzzed against the small wooden side table with an incoming text notification.
The message came from an unknown, encrypted VoIP number with no associated name or caller ID displayed.
I picked up the phone, unlocking the screen with my thumbprint and opening the blinking notification bubble.
My heart skipped a beat as I read the single sentence glowing coldly against the dark glass display:
“You think winning a family court judge protects you from what Ryan’s real business partners are hiding?”
Before I could process the threat, a second multimedia message popped up showing a photograph of our new house.
May you like
And standing right at the edge of our driveway in the shadows was a tall, unfamiliar figure staring up at my porch:
The war wasn’t over; it had merely evolved into something far deadlier than a domestic custody battle.
