Chapter 5 - THE COURT ORDER
The heavy glass door swung open, letting in the cold, rain-soaked Chicago air.
Graham immediately shoved his way inside, his expensive charcoal suit plastered to his body. His eyes were wide, bloodshot, and frantic. He didn't look like a successful CEO. He looked like a man who was losing control of his carefully constructed cage.
"Where is she?" Graham demanded, his voice echoing in the empty restaurant.
Then, he saw me.
I was standing beside Sebastian, wearing the oversized black overcoat, my bare feet hidden in the shadows.
Graham's face twisted into a grotesque mask of relief and anger.
"Mara," Graham gasped, taking a step toward me. "Thank God. The police said they left you here. You have to come home right now."
I shrank back against Sebastian's arm.
Graham noticed the movement. His eyes darted to Sebastian, then back to me.
He held up the piece of paper in his hand. The paper was damp, but the official seal of the Chicago psychiatric court was clearly visible.
"I have the emergency injunction," Graham said, his voice taking on that sickeningly calm, patient tone he used when he was gaslighting me. "Signed by a judge ten minutes ago. Mara is legally required to be remanded to my care for a seventy-two-hour psychiatric hold."
He stepped closer, reaching out to grab my arm.
"Come on, sweetheart. The ambulance is waiting outside. We're going to get you the help you need."
Before his fingers could even brush the fabric of my coat, Sebastian moved.
It was impossibly fast.
Sebastian’s large hand shot out, grabbing Graham by the throat. He didn't just stop him; he lifted Graham off the ground, slamming him violently against the brick wall of the restaurant foyer.
Graham gagged, his eyes bulging in shock as he dropped the court order. He clawed desperately at Sebastian's iron grip, his legs kicking uselessly in the air.
"You don't touch her," Sebastian whispered, his voice a low, terrifying rumble that vibrated through the room.
"I'm... her... husband!" Graham choked out, his face turning a dangerous shade of red.
Sebastian didn't loosen his grip. He stepped closer, completely invading Graham's space.
"Not anymore."
Sebastian signaled with his free hand.
One of his massive security guards stepped forward, picked up the damp court order from the floor, and handed it to Sebastian.
Sebastian didn't even read it. He crumpled it in his fist.
"The judge who signed this is a low-level magistrate," Sebastian said coldly. "Ten minutes ago, a Superior Court judge processed an annulment for your marriage, citing extreme fraud and criminal endangerment."
Graham’s eyes widened in pure panic. He stopped struggling for a second, the realization hitting him like a freight train.
"You're lying," Graham wheezed.
"I never lie," Sebastian said. "And as of five minutes ago, Mara is legally my wife. Which means she is under the protection of the Romano family."
Sebastian finally released his grip.
Graham collapsed to the floor, coughing violently, gasping for air. He held his bruised throat, staring up at Sebastian with a mixture of terror and disbelief.
"You're insane," Graham rasped, looking at me. "Mara, he's a criminal! He's going to use you!"
I looked down at the man I had loved for twelve years. The man who had poisoned me. The man who had planned to throw me down a flight of stairs and lock me in a psychiatric ward for my money.
"You used me, Graham," I said, my voice surprisingly steady. "You poisoned me. You tried to destroy my mind. And you thought I was too weak to ever figure it out."
Graham flinched. The charade was over. He knew that I knew.
"You can't prove anything," Graham spat, trying to stand up, though his legs were shaking. "The pills were prescribed. The fall was an accident. It's your word against mine, Mara. And nobody believes a crazy woman."
Sebastian let out a short, harsh laugh.
"She doesn't have to prove anything regarding the domestic abuse," Sebastian said smoothly. "Because by tomorrow morning, you'll be answering to the federal government."
Graham froze.
"What are you talking about?"
Sebastian leaned down, placing both hands on his knees so he was eye-level with my ex-husband.
"I know about the dummy vendor accounts, Graham. I know about the stadium project embezzlement. And I know you're washing the stolen money through Marcus Vance."
All the color drained from Graham's face. He looked like a corpse.
"Chloe told you," Graham whispered, sheer panic setting in. "That little bitch..."
"Chloe is currently under my protection," Sebastian confirmed. "And my IT team has already drained your private servers. The audit committee for the municipal contract will receive a very detailed, highly anonymous package at 8:00 AM."
Graham stumbled backward, hitting the glass door.
His entire life, his reputation, his firm, his freedom—it was all evaporating in front of his eyes.
"You can't do this," Graham pleaded, the arrogance entirely gone, replaced by pathetic desperation. "Please. I'll give Mara the firm. I'll sign whatever you want. Just don't send those files."
Sebastian stood up, adjusting his suit jacket.
"You don't negotiate with me, Graham. You just lose."
Sebastian looked at his guards.
"Throw him out. If he comes within a mile of my wife or my property again, break both of his legs."
The two massive guards grabbed Graham by his expensive suit jacket, shoved the door open, and threw him violently out into the rain. Graham landed hard on the wet pavement, scrambling to his feet as the heavy glass doors slammed shut behind him.
He stood in the rain, looking through the glass at us. He was broken.
I let out a long, shuddering breath, feeling a massive weight lift off my chest. I was safe.
But as I turned to thank Sebastian, I noticed something strange.
Sebastian wasn't looking at Graham anymore.
He was staring at the floor where Graham had fallen.
Resting on the expensive hardwood, having fallen out of Graham's pocket during the struggle, was a small, tarnished silver pocket watch.
Sebastian’s face went completely pale.
He slowly knelt down and picked up the watch.
"Sebastian?" I asked, alarmed by the sudden change in his demeanor. "What's wrong?"
He didn't answer. He turned the watch over in his hand.
Engraved on the back of the silver casing were the initials: D.R.
Dominic Romano.
Sebastian's younger brother. The one who had been murdered three years ago.
Sebastian pressed the latch. The watch popped open.
The glass face was shattered, frozen at 11:42. But tucked inside the lid was a small, folded piece of paper.
Sebastian unfolded it.
It wasn't a note.
It was a photograph.
I leaned closer, my heart pounding.
It was a picture of my husband, Graham, shaking hands with Marcus Vance.
But the date stamp on the bottom of the photograph wasn't recent.
It was dated three years ago. The exact night Sebastian's brother was killed.
Sebastian stared at the photograph, his hands shaking with a terrifying, silent rage.
May you like
Graham hadn't just started laundering money for Marcus Vance recently.
"He was there," Sebastian whispered, his voice cracking with lethal intensity. "Your husband was there the night my brother died."
