Chapter 7: A Mother’s Desperation
Desperation makes people incredibly dangerous, blinding them to the reality of their own destruction. Stripped of her legal leverage and facing impending federal charges, Victoria made a fatal miscalculation. She found out where Maya was attending a private, highly secure elementary school in the city.
Dressed in dark clothes and oversized sunglasses, Victoria bypassed the main gate by slipping in alongside a delivery truck. She waited near the playground, her heart pounding with a frantic, unhinged rhythm. If she could just get Maya alone for five minutes, she thought she could manipulate the terrified child into recanting her story on camera, claiming Brandon had forced her to lie.
As the recess bell rang, Maya walked out onto the pavement, holding a teacher's hand. Victoria stepped out from behind a large oak tree, her fake smile plastered back on her face. “Maya! Sweetie, come here to Mommy!”
Maya froze, her eyes widening in sheer terror. She let out a piercing scream.
Before Victoria could take another step, three large men in tactical civilian clothing materialized from the shadows. Brandon’s private security detail had been trailing Maya twenty-four hours a day. The lead guard tackled Victoria to the ground, pinning her arms behind her back with brutal efficiency.
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“Let me go! I’m her mother!” Victoria screamed hysterically, kicking at the pavement.
The school principal burst through the doors, followed by the police, who had been permanently stationed nearby per Brandon's strict orders. Victoria was dragged away in handcuffs, sobbing and screaming obscenities, cementing her fate entirely.
