Chapter 8 - Five in the Morning
The final confrontation began before sunrise.
Ava woke to find Trent standing beside the bed.
“Get dressed,” he said.
“Why?”
“My mother is here.”
Ava checked the time.
4:37 a.m.
She had planned to leave that morning. Alex was scheduled to meet her in the private parking garage at six.
Trent had somehow discovered enough to know he was losing control.
When Ava entered the kitchen, Evelyn was seated on the sofa. The investment agreement lay on the counter.
Beside it was a wooden bat from Trent’s private exercise room.
Ava stopped.
Trent noticed her looking at it.
“It is there to make sure you understand this is not another negotiation.”
Evelyn pointed to the document.
“Sign.”
“No.”
“You have no idea what your selfishness has done,” Evelyn said. “The waterfront lenders are threatening to withdraw.”
“That isn’t my responsibility.”
“It became your responsibility when you married my son.”
Ava slowly moved toward the kitchen island, placing herself close to where she had hidden a second phone.
Trent blocked her path.
“You’re going to sign the documents.”
“No.”
He struck the bat against the side of a barstool.
The noise echoed through the kitchen.
Ava stepped back, knocking over a glass. It rolled across the marble and shattered near the cabinet.
She lowered herself to the floor, one hand protecting her stomach.
Trent stood over her.
Evelyn watched from the sofa.
“She still hasn’t learned,” Evelyn said. “Frighten her again.”
Ava reached beneath the kitchen island.
Her fingers found the phone.
She pressed the side buttons in the emergency pattern Alex had taught her.
One press.
Two.
A pause.
Then three.
The phone vibrated.
The emergency profile activated.
Trent noticed her hand moving.
He snatched the phone and threw it onto the counter.
“No one is coming to save you.”
Ava looked toward the smart-home control panel.
The emergency indicator blinked.
Trent followed her gaze.
Then the lights went out.
The curtains closed.
The door locked.
The evidence began uploading.
When Alex’s voice came through the speakers, Ava nearly cried from relief.
But she remained focused.
She moved behind the island and waited for the police.
After the officers entered, Evelyn’s recorded words played from Ava’s phone.
“Make sure the baby doesn’t survive this.”
Evelyn claimed it had been taken out of context.
Alex revealed the stolen four hundred thousand dollars.
Trent looked at his mother.
“What did you do?”
Evelyn stared at him.
“What was necessary.”
“You told me the transfer was temporary.”
“It was.”
“You used my company server?”
“I protected your inheritance.”
The officers were listening.
Evelyn realized too late that she was still confessing.
Ava’s phone continued recording.
Trent stepped away from his mother.
“You said Ava would sign.”
“She would have if you weren’t so weak.”
Trent’s face twisted with anger.
“You planned this.”
Evelyn laughed bitterly.
“I planned everything. Your marriage, the trust, Bell’s evaluation, all of it. Do you think you could have built any of this alone?”
One officer placed Evelyn in handcuffs.
Trent looked toward Ava.
“Tell them I didn’t know.”
Ava stared at the man she had once loved.
“You knew enough.”
The second officer arrested him.
As Trent was led toward the door, he turned back.
“Ava, please. We can fix this.”
May you like
She placed a hand over her stomach.
“No,” she said. “You can face it.”
