Chapter 5 - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACKBy sunrise, the cabin was filled with the rich aroma of roasted coffee, sizzling bacon, and French toast.
While the girls sat at the wooden dining table drawing pictures with crayons James had dug out of an old storage chest, James and Rebecca sat by the stone fireplace, drinking coffee as the morning sun poured through the frosty windows.
"You can't stay hidden here forever, James," Rebecca said quietly, looking down at her mug. "Marcus is vindictive. His father still has connections in Boston real estate. If he files a formal petition, the courts will require a fixed address and a stable income for me... things I don't have right now."
James took a slow sip of his coffee, setting the ceramic mug down on the rustic coffee table with a decisive clink.
"Let him file," James said calmly. "My legal team handles corporate mergers that are ten times more complicated than a deadbeat trying to weaponize the family court system. But we aren't going to wait for him to make the first move."
He pulled his smartphone from his pocket, tapping the screen three times.
"Marcus thinks he can intimidate you with fabricated claims of instability?" James continued, a dangerous, confident smirk touching his lips. "As of two hours ago, my foundation has established a permanent, fully endowed education and housing trust for you and the girls. Furthermore, my corporate counsel has already initiated a forensic audit of Marcus’s failed company. Turns out, he embezzled investor funds to pay off his gambling debts in Rhode Island."
Rebecca’s jaw dropped. She stared at James in utter disbelief. "You... you investigated him overnight?"
"When I care about something, Rebecca, I don't leave loose ends," James replied, his voice dropping an octave, his eyes fixing on hers with intense, burning sincerity.
Before Rebecca could answer, the front gate intercom buzzed.
James pressed the receiver on the wall. "Go ahead."
"Mr. Carter," his chief security director’s voice crackled through the speaker. "We have a visitor at the gate. Marcus Sterling, accompanied by two local sheriff's deputies with an emergency writ of attachment and a child-recovery order."
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Rebecca’s face turned sheet white. She gripped the edge of the table so hard her knuckles turned chalky. "They're here..."
"Stay here," James said, standing up smoothly, adjusting his sweater cuffs with absolute calm. "Let's go see what kind of paperwork money can't buy."
