Chapter 6 - the statement
Noah slipped into the bathroom and climbed through the concealed service passage used by the household staff.
Olivia barely had time to hide the note before Ethan entered.
He carried a blue folder.
“Who were you speaking to?”
“No one.”
“The security system detected another device.”
“I turned on my old tablet.”
“Where is it?”
“It stopped working.”
Ethan searched the room.
He checked beneath the pillows, inside the wardrobe, and behind the curtains. When he found nothing, he placed the blue folder on the bed.
“Sign this.”
Olivia did not touch it.
“What is it?”
“A temporary medical directive.”
“It gives you control of my trust.”
“It gives me authority to protect our family.”
“From whom?”
“From the people watching us.”
“Your mother is watching us.”
Ethan rubbed his forehead.
“This is bigger than her.”
“Then call military intelligence.”
“They are involved.”
“My mother?”
“I don’t know.”
“You keep saying that whenever the truth becomes inconvenient.”
He opened the folder.
The document declared Olivia temporarily incapable of managing financial or medical decisions due to pregnancy-related anxiety.
Doctor Rowe’s signature was already at the bottom.
“You arranged this before examining me,” she said.
“It was prepared as a precaution.”
“You forged my consent forms.”
“My mother prepared those.”
“And you allowed it.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“Do you think I enjoy this?”
“I think you enjoy your promotion, your estate, and your mother’s approval more than you care about what happens to me.”
“That is not fair.”
“Neither is imprisoning your pregnant wife.”
“You are not a prisoner.”
Olivia walked to the door and tried the handle.
It was locked from the outside.
Ethan’s expression changed.
“I didn’t do that.”
“But you knew it would happen.”
He removed a keycard and unlocked the door.
Diane stood in the hallway.
“You are both becoming emotional,” she said.
Olivia faced her.
“Open the front gates.”
“No.”
“Then I am a prisoner.”
“You are a protected witness who does not understand the danger.”
“I understand enough.”
Diane entered and closed the door.
“You believe Margaret will rescue you. She cannot even rescue herself.”
“What does that mean?”
Diane picked up the blue folder.
“Your mother’s career rests on a sealed investigation. If Northbridge becomes public, the military will claim Margaret authorized an illegal diversion that resulted in the deaths of seven officers.”
“She didn’t.”
“Can you prove it?”
Olivia remained silent.
Diane placed a pen on the folder.
“Sign, and we remove every reference to Margaret.”
“You want me to surrender my father’s evidence.”
“I want to prevent three generations of your family from being destroyed by it.”
“And if I refuse?”
Diane’s eyes moved toward Olivia’s stomach.
“Doctor Rowe has already documented your instability.”
Ethan stiffened.
“Mother.”
“If Olivia becomes a danger to herself or the child, the court will grant temporary custody to the father.”
Olivia’s blood turned cold.
“You would take my baby?”
Diane’s voice remained calm.
“I would protect my grandchild.”
“From me?”
“From your decisions.”
Ethan stepped between them.
“That was not our agreement.”
“Our agreement was that she signs.”
“You said no one would threaten the baby.”
Diane looked at him with quiet contempt.
“I said you would not have to.”
Olivia saw something break in Ethan’s expression.
For a moment, he looked ashamed.
Then Diane held out the pen.
“Sign.”
Olivia took it.
Ethan stared at her.
She lowered the tip toward the paper.
Then she wrote three words across the signature line.
GO TO HELL.
Diane looked down.
Olivia threw the pen onto the bed.
“I will never give you my child.”
Diane closed the folder.
“Then you have chosen the difficult method.”
As she walked out, Olivia heard her speaking to someone in the corridor.
“Prepare the lower suite.”
Ethan turned toward Olivia.
“You should have signed.”
May you like
She looked at the man she had once trusted more than anyone.
“And you should have been someone worth loving.”
