Chapter 2 - The Phone Call She Had Avoided for Years
The bus driver noticed Audrey immediately.
“You need help getting on?”
Audrey nodded.
He lowered the step and waited while she climbed aboard slowly. A woman near the front moved her groceries and offered Audrey a seat.
“Sit here, honey.”
“Thank you.”
The woman helped position the diaper bag while Audrey held Leo close.
No one on that bus owed Audrey anything.
Yet complete strangers showed her more kindness than her husband had.
The bus moved through the city, stopping every few blocks. Each turn pulled at Audrey’s incision. She focused on Leo’s breathing and counted the intersections.
At the third red light, a black SUV stopped beside the bus.
Audrey recognized it instantly.
Through the tinted window, Dominic laughed while Natalie showed him something on her phone. Victoria was speaking animatedly from the back seat.
They looked happy.
Not relieved that Audrey and Leo were safe.
Happy that she was absent.
The light changed.
The SUV accelerated toward the restaurant district.
Audrey removed her phone from her bag.
For two years, she had refused to call her father whenever her marriage became difficult.
Charles Brooks had never trusted Dominic.
He had respected Audrey’s choice, but he had also warned her.
“A man who needs you to become smaller so he can feel important will eventually punish you for every strength you hide.”
Audrey had defended Dominic.
She had insisted he was ambitious, not arrogant.
She had believed love could soften him.
Now she selected her father’s number.
He answered before the second ring.
“Audrey?”
The concern in his voice nearly broke her composure.
“Dad, I need help.”
“Where are you?”
“On the Number Seven bus.”
There was a pause.
Charles knew she had been discharged that morning. He also knew Dominic owned no vehicle of his own.
“Why are you on a bus?”
Audrey looked at Leo.
“Dominic took the SUV to lunch with his family. He gave me fifty dollars and told me to find my own way home.”
Her father said nothing for several seconds.
When he spoke again, his voice was controlled.
“Are you and Leo safe?”
“We’re safe.”
“Are you in pain?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me the next stop.”
Audrey read the sign through the window.
Charles repeated the location to someone near him.
“A medical transport vehicle will meet you there. My security director is coming with it.”
“Dad, I don’t want a scene.”
“You are not creating a scene. You are leaving an unsafe situation.”
Audrey closed her eyes.
“I want to divorce him.”
Charles released a long breath.
“I’ve waited two years to hear you choose yourself.”
“I need access to the apartment before Dominic returns. Leo’s documents are there, along with my laptop and the file from Grandfather’s trust.”
Charles’s voice sharpened.
“What file?”
“The one containing my ownership shares in Dominic’s company.”
“Why would that be in the apartment?”
“Dominic asked to review the documents last month. He said his investors needed confirmation that I had no direct control.”
Her father became silent.
“Audrey, did you sign anything?”
“No.”
“Did you give him permission to copy your signature?”
“Of course not.”
“Then we have a serious problem. Brooks Global received a financing notice yesterday. A block of shares matching your holdings was listed as collateral.”
Audrey’s grip tightened around the phone.
“That’s impossible.”
“Unless someone forged your authorization.”
The bus reached the next stop.
A dark medical transport van waited at the curb. Beside it stood Marcus Hale, her father’s head of security, and Dr. Elena Morris, the physician who had supervised Audrey’s discharge.
The driver lowered the bus step.
Marcus entered first.
His expression changed when he saw how pale Audrey looked.
“Ms. Brooks, your father sent us.”
The other passengers watched as the doctor checked Audrey and helped her transfer safely into the van.
Before leaving, Audrey handed the fifty-dollar bill to the woman who had offered her a seat.
“For your groceries.”
The woman shook her head.
“You keep it.”
Audrey placed it gently in her hand.
“Please. Today you treated my son and me like we mattered.”
As the van door closed, Audrey looked back at the city bus.
May you like
Dominic had meant it to humiliate her.
Instead, it had carried her out of his control.
