The words landed like a bomb.
Emily looked confused.
“My mom didn’t disappear,” she said.
“She’s in the hospital.”
Richard’s heart began beating faster.
“Which hospital?”
Emily hesitated.
“I don’t know the name. It’s the big one with the blue lights.”
Patterson pulled out his phone immediately.
“Northwestern Memorial,” he muttered.
He stepped away to make a call.
Richard looked back at Emily.
“Emily,” he said gently.
“Yes?”
“Did your mom tell you anything else?”
Emily thought for a moment.
Then she nodded.
“One thing.”
Richard leaned closer.
“What was it?”
Emily whispered the words as if they were a secret.
“She said the baby isn’t the biggest secret.”
Richard frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Emily looked directly into his eyes.
“The biggest secret is about you.”
The words sent a strange chill down his spine.
“What about me?”
Emily hesitated.
“My mom said…”
Her voice dropped to a whisper.
“…you were never supposed to find out.”
At that moment, James Patterson rushed back toward them.
His face had gone pale.
“Richard,” he said.
“We have a problem.”
Richard stood.
“What now?”
Patterson swallowed.
“I just spoke to the hospital.”
“And?”
Patterson looked at Emily.
Then back at Richard.
“Laura Bennett is in intensive care.”
Richard felt dread tighten in his chest.
“What happened to her?”
Patterson answered quietly.
“She was pushed down a stairwell three weeks ago.”
Emily’s eyes widened.
“That’s not true!”
But Patterson wasn’t finished.
“And Richard…”
His voice dropped even lower.
“The police believe it wasn’t an accident.”
Richard stared at him.
“Who would do that?”
Patterson didn’t answer right away.
Because at that exact moment—
Victoria Blackwood stood up from her chair across the courtroom.
And began slowly walking toward them.
Her expression had changed completely.
The mask of the helpless pregnant woman was gone.
Now she looked cold.
Dangerous.
And when she spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper.
“You should have signed the papers, Richard.”
The room went silent again.
Victoria looked down at Emily.
Then back at Richard.
“You have no idea what you’ve just started.”
The courtroom had not yet recovered from the chaos when Victoria Blackwood began walking slowly across the polished marble floor.
Her heels clicked softly.
Controlled.
Precise.
Gone was the trembling pregnant woman who had wiped carefully staged tears only minutes earlier.
Now she looked composed.
Cold.
Almost… amused.
Richard felt the air around him tighten.
“You should have signed the papers, Richard,” Victoria repeated quietly.
Her voice carried across the room even though she barely raised it.
Several reporters turned their microphones toward her.
Judge Morrison had not yet returned to the bench, but the bailiff stepped forward cautiously.
“Ma’am, please return to your seat—”
Victoria ignored him.
Her eyes remained fixed on Richard.
“You could have walked away quietly,” she said.
“But you always had to play the hero.”
Richard’s voice was calm, but there was steel underneath.
“You tried to steal nearly a billion dollars from me.”
Victoria smiled faintly.
“Oh please.”
She gestured toward the courtroom.
“You think this place runs on truth?”
No one spoke.
Even the reporters paused.
Victoria looked down at Emily.
The little girl instinctively stepped closer to Richard.
Victoria’s eyes narrowed.
“So this is the messenger.”
Emily said nothing.
Victoria crouched slightly so their eyes were level.
“Did your mother tell you what happens to people who interfere with powerful adults?”
Richard stepped forward immediately.
“That’s enough.”
Victoria straightened slowly.
“You should be more careful, Richard.”
Her gaze flicked briefly toward the courtroom doors where Marcus had been taken away.
“You’ve already lost one family member today.”
Richard’s patience snapped.
“Why did you push Laura Bennett down the stairs?”
The question froze the room.
Victoria’s expression did not change.
But something dark flickered in her eyes.
“You don’t have proof of that.”
“Not yet,” Richard said.
Victoria tilted her head slightly.
Then she smiled again.
“That woman should have minded her own business.”
Emily gasped softly.
Richard’s lawyer stepped forward quickly.
“Your Honor isn’t even back yet,” he said firmly. “This conversation needs to stop immediately.”
Victoria shrugged.
“Fine.”
She turned to walk back toward her table.
Then she stopped.
