Chapter 3 - Breaking the Silence
I knelt down, taking Amy’s cold, trembling hands in mine. “Look at me, Amy. You are never, ever going to be afraid in this house again. Get your bag and Frederick’s diaper bag. We are walking out this door right now.”
Before she could object, the kitchen swinging door pushed open, and my mother strutted in holding an empty champagne flute. Her face dropped the second she saw me holding my sick son.
“Connor? What are you doing home early?” Teresa asked, her voice instantly shifting into an aggressive, defensive register. “And why aren't you out mingling with your uncles? Put that baby down, Amy still has two sinkloads of crystal glassware to hand-wash!”
I stood up slowly, towering over my mother. The man who had blindly trusted her for years was gone. In his place stood an engineer ready to demolish a collapsing structure.
“The party is over, Mother,” I said, my voice chillingly calm. “Gather your things, and get every single one of those freeloaders out of my house before I call the police.”
Teresa scoffed, crossing her arms over her expensive new dress. “Your house? Don't be ridiculous! This house is part of the family estate trust! I manage everything, and you wouldn't even have a roof over your head if I hadn't arranged this property for you! You have no right to throw your own family out!”
“We’ll see about that,” I said, turning my back on her. I grabbed Amy’s shoulders, guiding her and Frederick out the front door toward my truck.
As we climbed into the cab of the vehicle, the weight of what my family had done settled over me. But I wasn't just going to run away. I pulled out my phone and dialed 911.
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“911, what is your emergency?” the dispatcher's voice crackled through the speaker.
“My name is Connor Bradley,” I told the dispatcher firmly. “I need police assistance at my residence in Nashville. I have dozens of trespassing relatives inside my home without my permission, my wife has been coerced into forced labor while caring for a sick infant, and I suspect a major property fraud is currently taking place inside my house.”
