Chapter 15 - The Hearing.
The first major court hearing occurred three weeks after the assault.
By then, Victoria could walk comfortably for short distances, though her doctors still limited stress and exertion.
Her pregnancy had advanced without the complication everyone feared most.
The baby remained active.
The family did not.
Amber faced a felony assault charge enhanced by the pregnancy-related risk, along with a separate count connected to interference with Victoria's phone.
Her attorney sought reduced restrictions while the case moved forward.
Victoria asked to attend the hearing despite Lucas's concern.
"I am not hiding from a room because she might be in it."
Lucas supported her decision.
He also knew the hearing would force his own actions into public view.
Prosecutors had not ignored the slap.
A separate misdemeanor battery citation remained under review.
Lucas had already given a complete statement and refused suggestions from family lawyers that he describe the strike as necessary self-defense.
It had not been.
Amber was no longer attacking Victoria when he hit her.
He had retaliated in anger.
At the courthouse, reporters crowded behind barriers.
Lucas and Victoria entered through a side door with Reyes.
Amber sat at the defense table in a navy jacket, looking smaller than she had in the living room.
When Victoria entered, Amber's face collapsed for a moment.
She did not speak.
The judge reviewed the no-contact order first.
Amber's attorney argued that Amber had complied since the prohibited phone call and needed limited access to shared family properties.
The prosecutor opposed any relaxation.
Then Victoria was asked whether she wished to speak.
She stood slowly.
The courtroom became silent.
"I am not asking the court to punish someone because I am angry," she said.
"I am asking the court to protect me because the person who hurt me spent hours afterward trying to justify it."
Amber stared at the table.
Victoria continued.
"I understand she was manipulated."
"I understand other people lied to her."
"But I told her to leave."
"I told her not to touch me."
"She chose violence anyway."
Each sentence landed separately.
The judge extended the no-contact order and prohibited Amber from approaching Lucas and Victoria's residence, medical providers, or workplaces.
Then Amber's attorney changed direction.
He raised Lucas's slap.
"The household was violent in both directions," he argued.
Lucas felt heat rise in his face.
The prosecutor objected to the characterization.
The judge allowed limited discussion because Lucas's conduct formed part of the incident record.
Lucas's own statement was read aloud.
He had admitted striking Amber once after seeing Victoria unresponsive.
He had admitted the immediate danger had passed.
He had admitted it was wrong.
Amber's attorney tried to use the admission to blur the sequence.
Victoria refused to let that happen.
When asked, she said, "What Lucas did after I was attacked was wrong."
Lucas looked at her.
She did not flinch.
"It also did not cause Amber to attack me before he entered the room."
The courtroom remained still.
That distinction dismantled the defense strategy more effectively than anger could have.
After the hearing, Lucas told Victoria he was grateful she had not protected him from consequences.
"I don't want a marriage where love means lying for each other," she said.
Lucas agreed.
Two days later, prosecutors offered him a diversion agreement for the misdemeanor charge based on his immediate admission, lack of prior record, and completion of an anger-management assessment.
He accepted without complaint.
He did not call it unfair.
He did not compare his act to Amber's.
He simply took responsibility for it.
That choice became important when Mason's attorney tried to portray Lucas as an unstable heir manipulating the investigation for control of Hale Development.
The argument failed badly after the board released minutes showing Lucas had refused the interim executive position.
Then the forensic audit produced another surprise.
Someone had accessed the digital ledger after police recovered it.
The access occurred through a remote backup account investigators had not yet disabled.
A user attempted to delete twelve entries related to Victoria.
The deletion failed because the drive was already isolated.
The login credentials belonged to Mason.
The source IP came from a luxury hotel downtown.
Police reached the hotel within an hour.
Mason was gone.
His attorney claimed not to know where he was.
A hotel employee said Mason left carrying one suitcase and a document tube.
Security footage showed him entering a black SUV driven by an unidentified woman.
Reyes froze the image.
The woman's face was partly visible through the windshield.
Lucas recognized her immediately.
Eleanor.
The judge had not restricted Eleanor's travel because she had not yet been charged.
Now she and Mason were moving together.
Victoria stared at the image and whispered, "They are not running from the past."
Lucas looked at her.
"What do you mean?"
"They're going somewhere to destroy what is left."
Reyes agreed.
The question was where.
Then Robert called.
His voice was urgent.
"The lake house has a second safe."
Lucas frowned.
"You told police there was only one."
"Because I thought there was only one."
Robert took a breath.
"Eleanor just accessed the old property alarm."
May you like
The location signal came from the lake house.
And this time, Mason was with her.
