CHAPTER 3 — One Minute Until Judgment
The emergency button inside my purse sent only three words.
EXECUTE PHASE THREE.
Nothing more.
That was enough.
Outside the mansion...
Unmarked SUVs immediately started moving.
Federal helicopters changed course.
SWAT teams activated.
Search warrants were already signed.
Bank accounts were already frozen.
Private jets were already grounded.
The Callahan empire had less than two minutes left to exist.
Inside the ballroom...
No one knew.
Tyler picked up a champagne glass.
"Ladies and gentlemen..."
He raised it proudly.
"Let's restart this celebration."
Guests laughed nervously.
Someone turned the music back on.
A violinist actually resumed playing.
Blood continued dripping beneath my body.
Emma finally broke free from security and collapsed beside me.
"Oh my God..."
She grabbed my hand.
"Natalie, stay awake."
I whispered,
"What time?"
Emma looked at the giant grandfather clock.
"One fifty-nine."
Good.
Thirty seconds.
Across the room Chloe was already posing for photographs.
Standing beneath the baby decorations.
Smiling beside gifts meant for my son.
Victoria proudly placed one hand over Chloe's stomach.
"Perhaps next year..."
she announced loudly,
"we'll celebrate a real Callahan baby."
The room erupted into applause.
Richard laughed.
Tyler wrapped one arm around Chloe.
Then...
the mansion lights suddenly flickered.
Once.
Twice.
The music stopped.
Guests looked around nervously.
"What happened?"
Someone near the entrance screamed.
The enormous front doors burst inward with a thunderous crash.
Twelve armed FBI agents flooded the ballroom.
"FEDERAL AGENTS!"
"NOBODY MOVE!"
Champagne glasses shattered across the marble floor.
Women screamed.
Bodyguards reached for weapons—
Only to find laser sights already fixed on their chests.
Richard instinctively turned toward the hidden panic room.
Two agents blocked him instantly.
"Don't."
Tyler's face turned ghost white.
Victoria actually dropped to her knees.
Chloe burst into tears.
Then one elderly guest quietly whispered words that would soon appear on every news channel in America.
"They came for the Callahans."
The lead agent walked directly past every billionaire in the room...
Past every lawyer...
Past every politician...
And stopped beside me.
He knelt carefully.
Removed his FBI jacket.
Covered my shaking body.
Then, loud enough for the entire ballroom to hear, he said:
"Mrs. Natalie Callahan..."
"You are under federal witness protection."
The room went completely silent.
Tyler stared at me in horror.
"You..."
he whispered.
"You did this?"
I looked into the eyes of the man who had just punched his pregnant wife.
Then I smiled through blood.
"No, Tyler."
"You did."
At that exact moment...
another FBI agent rushed inside holding a phone.
His face had gone pale.
He leaned close to the lead investigator and whispered only six words.
"The baby still has a heartbeat."
And suddenly...
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This wasn't just a federal investigation anymore.
It had become a race against death.
