Chapter 1: The Crash and the Red Lights
The flashing red and blue lights of the emergency vehicles sliced through the heavy Chicago rain, reflecting violently against the glass windows of Bellamont. The high-pitched wail of the sirens grew deafening before abruptly cutting out outside the front doors.
Paramedics flooded the dining room, pushing past shocked patrons who stood frozen with their phones still raised.
Daniel stood paralyzed, his hands hovering in the air as if he could undo the last sixty seconds. On the floor, the nurse was applying pressure to Harper’s leg, her expression grim. "The bleeding isn't stopping," she called out to the arriving EMTs. "We need to move her now!"
As they lifted Harper onto a gurney, her eyes fluttered open for a split second. She didn't look at Daniel. She looked at Vanessa, her lips moving silently, forming a single word before she blacked out again: Why?
Vanessa, who had been the picture of cold elegance just moments before, suddenly looked frantic. She grabbed her designer clutch and stood up, smoothing down her silk dress. "Daniel, I need to leave. The press will be here any minute, and my family name cannot be dragged into a domestic dispute."
"A domestic dispute?" Daniel turned on her, his voice shaking. "I just pushed my pregnant wife, Vanessa!"
"You grabbed her, Daniel. You did," Vanessa whispered, her voice suddenly dropping into a razor-sharp hiss. "Don't bring me into your mess."
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Before she could take two steps toward the exit, a tall man in a soaked trench coat blocked her path. He didn't look like a standard beat cop. He had a badge clipped to his belt and a file folder tucked under his arm.
"Detective Miller, CPD Financial Crimes Division," the man announced, his eyes moving from Vanessa to Daniel. "Mr. Pierce, the ambulance is taking your wife to Northwestern Memorial. But you aren't going with her. You're coming with us."
