CHAPTER 3 — THE WOMAN IN HANDCUFFS
CHAPTER 3 — THE WOMAN IN HANDCUFFS
The entire terminal fell silent.
Conversations stopped.
Rolling suitcases froze in place.
Even the children sensed something had changed.
Two federal marshals moved straight toward Katherine Sterling.
"Ms. Katherine Sterling?"
She forced a laugh.
"There must be some misunderstanding."
The lead marshal unfolded a warrant.
"There isn't."
"You are being detained pending investigation for conspiracy, financial fraud, identity theft, interstate stalking, and attempted custodial interference."
Desmond stared.
"...What?"
Katherine looked at him, her face draining of color.
"Desmond, don't listen to them."
"They're making a mistake."
The marshal ignored her.
"Hands where we can see them."
Passengers immediately raised their phones higher.
Within seconds, dozens of cameras were recording.
"No!" Katherine snapped.
"I'm engaged to Desmond Frost!"
"You can't handcuff me in public."
The marshal's expression never changed.
"We can."
The metallic click echoed through the terminal.
Katherine Sterling was handcuffed.
For the first time since I'd met her, the perfect smile disappeared.
She looked...afraid.
Oliver suddenly coughed violently.
Desmond dropped to one knee beside him.
"Where is that inhaler?"
As if on cue, an airport operations employee came sprinting through the crowd.
"I found it!"
He held up the small blue inhaler.
I nearly cried.
Desmond grabbed it first, removed the cap with trembling fingers, and handed it to me.
Together we helped Oliver take two slow puffs.
One...
Two...
We waited.
Five agonizing seconds.
Ten.
Then Oliver's breathing gradually steadied.
Color returned to his cheeks.
He looked up at Desmond.
"You saved me."
Desmond closed his eyes.
"No..."
His voice cracked.
"I should have been there from the beginning."
Meanwhile Katherine struggled against the marshals.
"This is because of her!"
She pointed directly at me.
"She's manipulating everyone!"
The lead marshal didn't even look my way.
Instead he turned toward the suited lawyer who had delivered the custody papers.
"Mr. Caldwell."
The attorney stiffened.
"Yes?"
"You're coming with us."
His face went white.
"I represent Mr. Frost."
"You represented whoever paid you."
Another pair of handcuffs appeared.
Desmond blinked.
"Caldwell..."
"What is happening?"
The attorney couldn't answer.
One marshal opened the legal folder and removed several documents.
"Mr. Frost."
"You need to see this."
Desmond accepted the papers.
The first page made him frown.
The second made him pale.
By the third page...
His hands were shaking.
"What..."
He looked at Katherine.
"What did you do?"
I couldn't see the documents.
But I saw Desmond's reaction.
It terrified me.
He slowly lifted one page.
"My signature."
He stared at it.
"I never signed this."
The marshal nodded.
"We know."
"It's forged."
Another page.
"My initials..."
"Also forged."
Then another.
"And this trust amendment?"
The marshal answered quietly.
"Fake."
Desmond looked ready to collapse.
Someone had been using his name.
For months.
Maybe longer.
Katherine laughed suddenly.
It wasn't her polished social laugh.
It sounded unhinged.
"You finally figured it out."
Desmond stared.
"You forged my signature?"
She shrugged.
"You were always traveling."
"You never read anything."
"It wasn't difficult."
His voice became dangerously quiet.
"How much?"
She smiled.
"Enough."
"I asked how much."
She looked him directly in the eye.
"About four hundred million dollars."
The entire terminal gasped.
Even the marshals exchanged looks.
Desmond whispered,
"Four hundred..."
She interrupted.
"...Twenty-three million."
My knees weakened.
Nearly half a billion dollars.
Gone.
"But that wasn't enough," the marshal said.
He removed another folder.
"This investigation began because someone repeatedly ordered surveillance on one woman."
He pointed toward me.
"Maya Carter."
I felt ice spread through my body.
"They watched me?"
"For sixteen months."
The marshal nodded.
"They tracked every address."
"Every job."
"Every grocery purchase."
"Every pediatric appointment."
My stomach twisted.
Someone had documented my children's entire lives.
Without my knowledge.
Desmond looked horrified.
"You authorized that?"
Katherine smiled.
"No."
"I did."
A new voice answered from behind us.
Everyone turned.
A silver-haired man stepped through the crowd.
Expensive navy suit.
Walking cane.
Cold blue eyes.
Desmond's expression completely changed.
"...Father."
Silence.
The billionaire patriarch, Harrison Frost, had arrived.
He looked at the triplets for barely two seconds.
Then he looked at me.
"I warned you this woman would become inconvenient."
Desmond stared.
"...You knew?"
His father answered calmly.
"Of course."
"I've known since before they were born."
The world tilted beneath my feet.
"You knew I was pregnant?"
"I arranged the doctor who confirmed it."
I couldn't breathe.
"You..."
"I also arranged for your resignation from the architecture firm."
Memories exploded inside my head.
The unexpected layoff.
The canceled health insurance.
The landlord suddenly refusing to renew my lease.
The anonymous rejection letters.
It hadn't been bad luck.
Someone had destroyed my life.
Piece by piece.
For eighteen months.
May you like
And that someone...
Was standing twenty feet away.
