Chapter 2: The Phone Call
For a moment, nobody spoke.
The call connected.
My father answered on the second ring.
His voice was calm.
"Are you hurt?"
I looked at the blood staining my dress.
"Yes."
Silence.
A dangerous silence.
Then my father spoke again.
"Did he touch you?"
"Twenty lashes."
The room suddenly felt colder.
Across the hall, Adrian laughed.
"Your father?"
He shook his head.
"You really are desperate."
Vanessa giggled.
"What is he going to do? Leave us a bad review?"
Neither of them knew.
Because they had never met my father.
They only knew the version of me I allowed the world to see.
A quiet wife.
A forgotten woman.
Not Amelia Sterling.
Only daughter of Victor Sterling.
Founder of Sterling Global Holdings.
One of the richest men in the country.
My father exhaled slowly.
"I warned you this day might come."
"You did."
"Are you ready?"
I looked directly at Adrian.
For the first time, I felt nothing.
No love.
No sadness.
No fear.
"Yes."
My father ended the call.
Five minutes later, Adrian's phone rang.
Then another.
And another.
The smile slowly disappeared from his face.
His CFO.
His attorneys.
His investors.
His banks.
One by one.
Each delivering terrible news.
The color drained from his face.
"What?"
The next call made him stumble backward.
"No, that's impossible."
But it wasn't.
Because the Sterling family had finally stopped protecting him.
