Chapter 2: The Doorway
Then laughter reached me from behind.
“She’s always been so dramatic.”
I slowly turned around.
Standing in the doorway were her husband, Nicholas Ferguson, his mother Patricia, and Nicholas’s older brother Gregory.
Custom-tailored suits.
Luxury watches.
Perfectly polished smiles.
Faces overflowing with wealth, arrogance, and contempt.
Patricia wore diamond earrings and a smile cold enough to chill the entire room.
“Colonel Gardner,” she said smoothly, “your daughter simply had an emotional breakdown. She fell. No one touched her.”
Abigail tightened her grip on my sleeve.
“No, Mom. They locked me inside the guest house. They took my phone away. They told me if I ever left Nicholas, they’d destroy my reputation.”
Nicholas rolled his eyes.
“She’s exaggerating. She’s always been overly sensitive.”
Gregory let out a quiet chuckle.
“Some women marry into families they're never really prepared for.”
Without releasing my daughter, I rose to my feet.
Patricia moved a step closer.
“There’s no need to make this ugly,” she said. “Our family has connections with the courts, the media, and people in state government.”
She leaned even closer.
“Your military rank doesn't frighten us.”
Gregory smirked.
“Take your daughter home and be grateful we’re not filing a defamation lawsuit against her.”
I looked at every one of them.
One at a time.
Calmly.
Silently.
Far too calmly.
May you like
They confused my silence with weakness.
That was the first mistake they made.
