CHAPTER 4 — The Ambulance They Tried to Stop
"The baby still has a heartbeat."
Those six words echoed through the ballroom louder than the screams.
For one impossible second...
Everything stopped.
The FBI agents.
The terrified guests.
Even Tyler.
Then the lead agent snapped into action.
"Medic team! Now!"
Two emergency medical technicians rushed through the shattered front doors carrying trauma bags.
They dropped to their knees beside me.
One carefully lifted my blood-soaked dress just enough to check the injury.
His face tightened immediately.
"Possible placental abruption."
The second medic placed a Doppler monitor against my swollen stomach.
Silence.
Only static.
My heart nearly stopped.
Then—
Thump.
Another.
Thump... thump...
A tiny heartbeat.
Weak.
But alive.
Tears streamed down Emma's face.
"Oh, thank God..."
The medic looked directly at me.
"Natalie, stay with us."
"You hear me?"
"We're getting both of you out."
I nodded weakly.
But before they could move the stretcher—
Tyler stepped forward.
"No."
Every head turned.
"No one leaves."
The room fell silent.
His expensive suit was splattered with my blood.
His jaw trembled.
"If she leaves this house, she'll lie."
The lead FBI agent slowly stood.
"You really want to finish this?"
Tyler pointed at me.
"She's mentally unstable."
"My father has doctors who'll prove it."
Richard immediately joined him.
"My attorneys will bury every accusation."
Victoria added coldly,
"She's having a hormonal breakdown."
One medic looked disgusted.
"She needs emergency surgery."
Richard didn't even look at him.
"My lawyers outrank your doctors."
That was when something happened no one expected.
A gray-haired woman stepped out from the crowd.
Judge Eleanor Brooks.
One of California's most respected federal judges.
She had been invited as one of Richard's honored guests.
Everyone assumed she was one of his closest allies.
Instead...
She quietly removed the Callahan charity pin from her jacket.
Dropped it onto the marble floor.
Then crushed it beneath her heel.
"I signed every warrant."
Richard froze.
Judge Brooks looked directly into his eyes.
"And after what I just witnessed..."
"I'll personally make sure attempted murder is added."
Richard's face lost all color.
Tyler stumbled backward.
Victoria whispered,
"No..."
The judge knelt beside me.
Took my shaking hand.
"You were much braver than you know."
"I've been waiting almost fifteen years for someone to expose them."
Outside...
The sound of helicopters filled the sky.
The empire was collapsing.
Inside...
The ambulance doors closed.
For the first time in years...
I was finally leaving the Callahan mansion.
May you like
Not as Tyler's wife.
But as the woman who had destroyed everything they built.
