Chapter 5 - Whispers in the Dark
The final piece of the puzzle arrived unexpectedly at 2:00 AM.
The door to my hospital room clicked open. I reached for the call button, but a trembling voice stopped me.
"Don't press it. Please, Bridget."
It was Lauren, Tyler’s wife. She looked terrible. The polished, designer-clad trophy wife I knew was gone. She was wearing sweatpants, her hair messy, and she had a dark bruise forming on her left cheekbone, hastily covered with foundation.
"Lauren?" I pushed myself up. I didn't need to ask where the bruise came from. Tyler’s rage had always been a poorly kept secret.
Lauren collapsed into the visitor's chair and buried her face in her hands. "He’s out of control, Bridget. Ever since you survived the fall, he’s been drinking constantly. He thinks everyone is looking at him. Yesterday... he grabbed Mason. He’s never hurt our son before, but he grabbed his arm so hard he left a mark."
My chest tightened. Mason was only six. "You need to take him and leave."
"I can't! Harold has threatened to freeze all my accounts, to sue for full custody. I have no money of my own. They will take my baby."
I reached out and grabbed her shaking hand. "Lauren, look at me. I have the video."
Her head snapped up, her eyes wide with shock.
"I have the footage of him pushing me. He is going to prison for attempted murder. When that happens, the Sterling family reputation will burn to the ground, and Harold won't have the power to protect a parking ticket, let alone sue for custody."
Lauren choked back a sob.
"I need you to testify," I told her. "I need you to stand up in court and tell them his state of mind. Tell them what he’s doing now. If you do this, I swear to you on Grandmother Rose’s grave, I will set up a trust for Mason. I will buy you a house wherever you want to go, and I will pay for the best divorce lawyers in the country. You will never have to fear them again."
Lauren stared at me, the fear in her eyes slowly hardening into resolve. She thought of her son. The maternal instinct overrode the fear of the Sterling patriarchs.
May you like
"When?" she asked.
"Tomorrow," I smiled. "At the annual Sterling Jewelers Shareholder Gala."
