Chapter 6 - Freezing The Golden Boy
Rebecca pulled out a sleek silver tablet and tapped the illuminated screen three times with practiced efficiency.
"At fourteen hundred hours today, upon receiving notice of your threats to abandon Major Whitaker, I filed an emergency federal injunction."
"Judge Harold Miller of the United States District Court signed an immediate freeze on all corporate assets connected to Prometheus subcontracts."
"Every business operating account under Vance Enterprises has been placed into federal escrow pending an investigation into marital fraud."
Ethan frantically yanked his smartphone from his suit pocket, his thumbs trembling violently as he opened his banking portal.
He stared at the glowing screen, his face turning an ashen, sickly gray as red denial banners flashed across the interface.
"Access Denied," Ethan read aloud, his voice dropping to a terrified, breathless whisper.
"Operating Account Zero... Payroll Escrow Locked... Personal Line of Credit Revoked..."
"Mother, the accounts are frozen solid; I cannot even authorize tomorrow's vendor disbursements!"
Margaret lunged toward my father, abandoning every shred of her aristocratic decorum in a frenzy of desperation.
"Robert, you cannot do this to us!" Margaret screamed, her voice shrill and echoing down the quiet corridor.
"We have payroll due on Friday for over forty staff members, and Ethan's personal mortgage note is linked to that account!"
"You are destroying our lives over an emotional domestic dispute between a husband and a wife!"
My father did not flinch; he looked down at Margaret with eyes as hard and unyielding as granite headstones.
"When you walked into this room, Margaret, you called my daughter a useless, sick invalid and threatened to throw her into the alley."
"You stood over my granddaughter's crib and declared a seventy-two-hour-old infant an inconvenient waste of your family capital."
"You abandoned my child on what could have been her deathbed, and you dared to speak to me of mercy?"
"My daughter has survived mortar fire in Kandahar and managed supply corridors across war zones while your son sat in air-conditioned suites."
"You thought she was weak because her heart was damaged giving life to your bloodline."
"Now, you will learn what happens when you wage war against the Whitaker family."
Ethan dropped his phone onto the floor, the glass screen cracking across the linoleum tile with a sharp snap.
He looked toward me, his arrogant posture completely shattered, his eyes pleading for a scrap of sympathy.
"Caroline... please," Ethan begged, taking an unsteady step toward the edge of my hospital mattress.
"You know I was just stressed... the baby's birth, your sudden medical diagnosis, the panic of the hospital bills..."
"I didn't mean those terrible things, sweetheart; we are a family, we can work through this together."
"Call off your father's lawyers, let them unfreeze the accounts, and I will tear up these divorce papers right now."
I looked at the crumpled envelope resting near my feet, then looked up into the desperate, hollow eyes of my husband.
My heart monitor beeped, steadying slightly as the adrenaline cleared the toxic fog of sorrow from my mind.
"Do not call me sweetheart, Ethan," I said, my voice steady, resonant, and cold as arctic ice.
May you like
"You threw those papers at my chest when you thought I was dying and defenseless."
"You do not get to ask for peace when you realize the enemy has superior firepower."
