CHAPTER 2 — The First Lawsuit
CHAPTER 2 — The First Lawsuit
The front door slammed behind Jamie with enough force to rattle the windows.
For three long seconds, she simply stood on the porch, breathing.
Her cheek throbbed.
When she lifted trembling fingers to her face, they came away stained with a faint smear of blood where Hunter's wedding ring had split the skin beneath her eye.
The morning air felt cold against the burning welt.
Inside the house, she could still hear Mrs. Joyce shouting.
"Go after her!"
"She'll calm down!"
"She's just being dramatic!"
Hunter laughed.
"She has nowhere else to go."
Jamie closed her eyes.
Two years.
Two years of believing kindness was real.
Two years of ignoring small warning signs.
The jokes about wives "knowing their place."
The way Hunter always asked permission from his mother before making decisions.
The way Mrs. Joyce criticized every woman around her.
The wedding had not changed Hunter.
It had simply removed his mask.
Jamie climbed into her car.
Instead of driving home, she pulled into the parking lot of a nearby pharmacy.
She looked at herself in the mirror.
A handprint had already begun forming across her left cheek.
Purple.
Red.
Swollen.
She took several photographs from different angles.
Then another.
Then a video.
"My name is Jamie Patterson."
Her voice shook.
"The date is October 18."
"My husband, Hunter Collins, struck me across the face this morning in front of his parents and his sister after they demanded I cook a separate breakfast."
She turned the camera.
"The injury is visible."
She turned it back.
"If anything happens to me, this recording explains why."
She uploaded every file to cloud storage.
Then she sent copies to her father.
To her closest friend, attorney Melissa Grant.
And finally...
To herself using three different email accounts.
No one would ever be able to erase what happened.
Her phone rang.
Hunter.
She declined.
It rang again.
Declined.
Again.
Again.
By the ninth call, voicemail notifications flooded the screen.
She listened to the first one.
"Jamie..."
His voice had softened.
"You embarrassed me."
A pause.
"You know my mother pushes my buttons."
"You made me lose control."
Another pause.
"I'm willing to forgive you."
Jamie stared at the phone.
Forgive...
Her?
The next voicemail sounded colder.
"If you don't answer, don't bother coming back."
The third was worse.
"My family already thinks you're unstable."
"The table."
"The screaming."
"You attacked us."
Jamie slowly saved every voicemail.
Twenty minutes later she arrived at the emergency department where she worked.
The nurses gasped.
"What happened?"
Jamie answered calmly.
"I was assaulted."
Hospital policy required photographs.
Medical documentation.
Neurological evaluation.
CT scan.
An attending physician documented everything.
Facial contusion.
Laceration.
Signs consistent with blunt-force trauma.
Every page became evidence.
While Jamie sat with an ice pack against her cheek, Melissa Grant rushed into the hospital carrying a leather briefcase.
Melissa had been Jamie's roommate during graduate school.
She hugged her carefully.
"Tell me everything."
Jamie did.
Every word.
Every insult.
Every look.
Every second leading to the slap.
Melissa remained silent until Jamie finished.
Then she asked one question.
"Did anyone witness it?"
Jamie nodded.
"His parents."
"His sister."
Melissa smiled—not happily, but confidently.
"Perfect."
Jamie frowned.
"They're his family."
"They'll lie."
Melissa opened her notebook.
"Maybe."
"But lies leave fingerprints."
At exactly eleven-thirty, Jamie's father arrived.
William Patterson had built Patterson Pharmaceuticals from a tiny laboratory into one of the largest regional suppliers in the state.
He was known for remaining calm during billion-dollar negotiations.
But when he saw his daughter's bruised face...
His expression changed.
He touched her cheek with trembling fingers.
"Who did this?"
Jamie whispered.
"Hunter."
Her father looked toward the hospital window.
For almost a minute he said nothing.
When he finally spoke, his voice was frighteningly calm.
"Call the family attorney."
Melissa nodded.
"Already done."
"And the financial department?"
"On standby."
William slowly removed his wedding gift from his pocket.
A duplicate key.
"The Oak Ridge apartment."
Jamie looked confused.
"What about it?"
"It was never just a wedding gift."
He handed her a folder.
"I didn't tell you because I hoped you'd never need to know."
Inside were property records.
Mortgage statements.
Ownership documents.
Hunter's name appeared nowhere.
Jamie blinked.
"You..."
"I protected my daughter."
Across town...
Hunter finally drove back to the Oak Ridge apartment.
His anger had faded.
Now he was annoyed.
He expected tears.
Apologies.
Flowers.
Instead...
His key card flashed red.
Access denied.
He frowned.
Tried again.
Nothing.
A moving company truck sat outside.
Two uniformed workers approached.
"Mr. Hunter Collins?"
"Yeah."
The older worker handed him a clipboard.
"We've been authorized by the property owner to remove only the belongings listed under your personal inventory."
Hunter frowned.
"What?"
"The owner changed the access codes this morning."
"I'm the husband."
The worker shrugged.
"Not according to the property documents."
Hunter laughed.
"This is ridiculous."
Then his phone vibrated.
BANK ALERT
Joint credit account closed.
Another notification.
Authorized user removed.
Another.
Vehicle insurance cancelled.
Another.
Apartment utilities transferred.
His smile disappeared.
Meanwhile...
Mrs. Joyce was making angry phone calls.
"Jamie's father is manipulating her!"
"She'll come crawling back!"
"No woman throws away a marriage after one little slap."
At that exact moment, someone knocked on her front door.
She smiled.
"I knew she'd apologize."
She opened it.
Instead of Jamie...
Two sheriff's deputies stood outside.
One held a sealed envelope.
"Mrs. Joyce Collins?"
"Yes?"
"You've been officially notified not to contact Mrs. Jamie Patterson pending an investigation into allegations of domestic assault and witness intimidation."
Her face turned white.
"What investigation?"
The deputy looked directly at her.
"The one that begins today."
At the hospital, Jamie's phone buzzed one last time.
An unknown number.
She answered.
A quiet female voice whispered,
"Mrs. Patterson..."
"This is Brooke's best friend."
"I was at the house this morning."
Jamie froze.
The girl continued.
"I recorded everything."
Silence filled the room.
May you like
Then she said the words that changed the entire case.
"I think you need to see what Hunter's family said about you... before they knew the camera was still recording."
