Chapter 5 - Desperate Measures
By Tuesday afternoon, the scandal had completely paralyzed Daniel’s life.
With his corporate lines frozen and suppliers demanding immediate cash payments, the concrete trucks had failed to show up at his major riverfront development. The city inspector had slapped three separate stop-work orders on his construction sites. Worse still, the viral video had reached the developer of the multi-million-dollar project, who promptly terminated Carter Construction’s contract for breach of morality clauses and reputational damage.
Daniel had tried to call me fifty times from burner phones, payphones, and his friends’ numbers. I answered none of them.
Instead, I went about my day under Arthur’s watchful eye. At 2:00 PM, I had a routine high-risk ultrasound appointment at the Women’s Health Pavilion downtown. Arthur drove me in our armored SUV, parking directly outside the main clinic doors.
“I’ll wait in the lobby, Ms. Emma,” Arthur said as we walked into the building.
“Thank you, Arthur.”
The waiting room was quiet and peaceful. Soft classical music played from the ceiling, and expecting mothers sat reading magazines. I checked in with the receptionist and sat down near the corner, holding my medical chart against my lap.
Suddenly, the glass double doors of the clinic swung open with tremendous force.
“Where is she?” a shrill, hysterical voice screeched through the pristine medical office.
I looked up. Linda Carter was standing in the center of the lobby.
She looked entirely unhinged. Her makeup was smeared, her hair was unwashed and frizzy, and she was wearing a stained silk blouse. Behind her stumbled Daniel, looking hollow-cheeked and desperate, frantically trying to grab his mother’s sleeve.
“Mom, stop! Don’t do this here!” Daniel pleaded.
“Shut up, Daniel!” Linda shrieked, swatting him away. Her bloodshot eyes swept across the room and locked onto me. “There she is! There’s the viper!”
Several patients gasped, cowering back into their chairs. The receptionist immediately reached for the emergency phone beneath the counter.
Linda marched across the carpet toward me, her bony fingers curled into claws. “You think you’re so clever, don’t you? You ruined my son’s life! The bank locked my accounts this morning! My debit card was declined at the grocery store! You put that disgusting, edited video on the internet to humiliate me!”
I didn’t move. I didn’t flinch. I remained seated, looking up at her with cold, unwavering eyes.
“Linda,” I said softly. “You are violating private medical property. Lower your voice and leave.”
“I will not leave!” she screamed, leaning down until her spit hit my cheek. “You are going to take that video down right now! You are going to sign a public apology admitting that you provoked me! And you are going to unfreeze my money, or I swear to God, I will make sure you never raise that child in peace!”
She reached out, her fingers aiming straight for my throat.
Before her hand could make contact, a massive wall of muscle intercepted her. Arthur stepped between us, catching Linda’s wrist in a vise-like grip and twisting her arm behind her back with mechanical efficiency.
“Ow! Get off me! Assault! He’s assaulting me!” Linda howled in pain.
Daniel rushed forward. “Hey! Let go of my mother! Emma, tell your thug to let her go!”
“Step back, Mr. Carter!” Arthur bellowed, his voice rattling the clinic windows. “I am exercising citizen’s arrest under the direct threat of imminent physical violence against a pregnant woman. Step back or you will be neutralized!”
Two city police officers, who had been patrolling the medical district right outside, burst through the clinic doors with their tasers drawn.
“Police! Nobody move! Put your hands in the air!”
Linda began to weep hysterically, thrashing against Arthur’s hold. “Officers! Help me! This monster attacked me! I’m a grandmother! I just came to check on my grandchild!”
The receptionist stepped out from behind the bulletproof glass, her face pale with fury. “Officers, that is an absolute lie. That woman barged in here, screamed obscenities, and physically lunged at that patient. We have the entire incident recorded on our lobby security cameras.”
The officers didn't hesitate. Within sixty seconds, Linda Carter was pushed against the clinic wall, her hands wrenched behind her back, and cold metal handcuffs clicked around her wrists.
“Linda Carter,” the lead officer recited coldly, “you are under arrest for assault, disorderly conduct, and criminal intimidation.”
Daniel stood in the middle of the lobby, trembling from head to toe, looking at his mother being dragged away and then looking at me.
“Emma...” he choked out, tears finally spilling down his cheeks. “Please... she didn’t mean it. Look at what you’re doing to our family.”
I stood up slowly, clutching my ultrasound paperwork to my chest.
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“You did this to your family, Daniel,” I whispered. “When you stood by and let her strike me, you chose this path. Now you get to walk it alone.”
***