Chapter 1 - The Arrest on Willow Street
The red and blue light bar of the lead police cruiser flashed against the damp bricks of the Whitmore estate.
Rain had turned into a steady drizzle, soaking the pavement as officers escorted Evelyn Whitmore down the front steps.
Her hands were bound behind her back in steel handcuffs.
She kept her chin raised, attempting to maintain her usual cold elegance, but her silver hair was disheveled from the humid night air.
Ryan stood near the porch pillar, watching the woman who had raised him.
He felt an empty numbness in his chest, replaced slowly by an icy resolve.
"Ryan, this is a terrible misunderstanding," Evelyn said, her voice sharp as she stopped near the car door.
"That woman manipulated the entire scene to ruin our family name."
"The camera didn't lie, Mother," Ryan said, his voice flat and steady.
"You put it there to frame Maya, but it recorded every single second of what you did."
The lead officer opened the door of the patrol vehicle.
"Watch your head, ma'am," the officer instructed neutrally.
Evelyn turned back to Ryan, her eyes narrowing into cold slits.
"You are throwing away your inheritance for a girl who came from nothing," she hissed.
"You will regret this before the week is over."
Ryan did not answer.
May you like
He turned his back on her as the cruiser door slammed shut.
He got into his own SUV and started the engine, heading straight for Saint Jude Children's Hospital.
