Chapter 2 - THE DUST AND THE IRON
The heavy brass padlock hit the stone courtyard floor with a sharp, ringing clatter.
Nora wrapped her navy trench coat around eight-year-old Ethan, holding his trembling, frail body tightly against her chest.
Across the sunlit garden, Eleanor Vance adjusted her cream cashmere shawl with icy precision, her silver hair shimmering under the afternoon sun.
"You think you can just walk onto my estate and take him, Nora?" Eleanor asked, her voice calm yet dripping with pure malice.
Beside her, Chloe stood motionless in her mustard yellow dress, clutching the swaddled baby in the lavender blanket.
"He is my son, Eleanor!" Nora shouted, her eyes blazing through tears of anger. "You chained him like an animal!"
"He was being disciplined for disobeying family rules," Eleanor replied coldly, pointing her ringed finger toward the wooden doghouse.
Ethan buried his face into Nora’s neck, his hands clutching her coat as if his life depended on it.
The sound of gravel crunching under tires echoed from the main driveway of the Charleston mansion.
A local county sheriff’s cruiser pulled up beneath the archway, its red and blue lights flashing against the framed US flag mounted on the stone pillar.
Sheriff Miller stepped out of the vehicle, his hand resting cautiously on his holster as he surveyed the courtyard.
"Ma'am, we received an emergency 911 call about a child in distress," Sheriff Miller said, walking toward the lawn.
"There is no emergency here, Sheriff," Eleanor declared smoothly, stepping forward with an authoritative smile. "My daughter-in-law is emotionally unstable and trespassing."
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Nora stood up slowly, keeping Ethan behind her protective frame. "Look at his neck, Sheriff! She had him locked to a doghouse with an iron chain!"
Sheriff Miller looked down at the raw, red marks circling Ethan's neck, and his professional expression instantly hardened.
