Chapter 1: The Escape
Chapter 1: The Escape
The tires of my rusted Chevy Impala chewed the wet asphalt as Lake Forest’s manicured lawns blurred into the morning fog. Beside me, Hannah was curled into a tight ball in the passenger seat, trembling like a leaf caught in a winter storm. The bruising on her cheek had already deepened into a horrific canvas of violet and black. She stared out the window, her eyes hollow, trapped in the nightmare she had just barely escaped.
"Mom," she whispered, her voice cracking. "Grant wasn't bluffing. He owns the police chief. He owns the judges. They will take everything from us."
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I kept my eyes on the road, my grip loose but steady on the steering wheel. For twenty-three years, I had been Evelyn Carter: the widow, the pie-maker, the smiling face pouring coffee at dawn. I had buried my past so deep I thought it had turned to ash. But looking at my daughter’s bruised face, the embers reignited into a roaring inferno.
"Let him try," I said, my voice eerily calm. "By the time I'm finished, Grant Holloway won't have an empire left to rule."
