Chapter 2
The wail of approaching sirens echoed across the courthouse plaza.
Paramedics rushed up the bloodstained marble staircase carrying trauma bags and a stretcher while courthouse deputies forced the growing crowd backward.
"Give them room!"
Khloe's breathing became shallow.
She clung weakly to Harrison's jacket, leaving bloody fingerprints across the charcoal fabric.
"My baby..."
Harrison leaned close enough for only her to hear.
"Listen to me, Khlo."
"Our little girl is going to be okay."
"You stay awake."
"You hear me?"
Khloe tried to nod, but another wave of pain stole her breath.
The lead paramedic quickly knelt beside them.
"Thirty-six-year-old female."
"Approximately twenty-eight weeks pregnant."
"Heavy abdominal trauma."
As the medical team carefully lifted Khloe onto a spinal board, Harrison refused to release her hand.
Richard finally stumbled down the staircase.
"Khloe..."
"I didn't—"
Harrison slowly stood between them.
His blood-soaked suit made the contrast even more terrifying.
Richard had known Harrison for nearly fifteen years.
He had seen him destroy billion-dollar corporations in courtrooms without raising his voice.
He had never seen him like this.
"Harrison..."
"It was an accident."
Harrison stared at him.
"Move."
"I need to explain."
"I said..."
His voice remained perfectly calm.
"Move."
Richard instinctively stepped backward.
Not because Harrison threatened him.
Because the icy control in his eyes was far more frightening than rage.
Meanwhile, deputies surrounded Vanessa.
She looked from one officer to another in disbelief.
"I didn't mean—"
"You have the right to remain silent."
"What?"
"You are being detained pending investigation."
Vanessa's eyes widened.
"You can't arrest me!"
"I barely touched her!"
One deputy looked toward the courthouse entrance.
"We'll let the surveillance footage answer that."
Vanessa's heart sank.
"No..."
"It wasn't like that."
Across the plaza, several witnesses had already begun giving statements.
An elderly woman raised her hand.
"I saw everything."
A young law student spoke next.
"So did I."
Another attorney pointed toward the top landing.
"She shoved her with both hands."
Vanessa's breathing quickened.
"They're lying!"
"No."
A calm voice interrupted.
Everyone turned.
The courthouse security director walked outside carrying a tablet computer.
"The recording system captured the entire staircase from three different angles."
He looked directly at the deputies.
"The footage has already been secured."
Vanessa's knees weakened.
Richard closed his eyes.
There would be no arguing with video evidence.
The ambulance doors slammed shut.
Harrison climbed inside beside his sister.
As the vehicle sped toward Montgomery Regional Medical Center, he never once let go of Khloe's hand.
The obstetric trauma team was already waiting.
Inside the emergency department, doctors rushed Khloe toward surgery.
One physician stopped Harrison outside the operating room.
"Are you immediate family?"
"I'm her brother."
"We're doing everything we can."
"What about the baby?"
The doctor hesitated only briefly.
"We won't know until we stop the bleeding."
Those words hit harder than anything Harrison had heard in years.
He leaned against the hallway wall for a single moment.
Then straightened his tie.
His face became unreadable again.
A detective approached carrying a notebook.
"Mr. Cole?"
Harrison nodded.
"I'll answer every question."
"But first..."
He reached into his briefcase.
Inside was a slim black business card.
He handed it to the detective.
"My firm represents victims of violent crimes."
"I'll be representing my sister."
The detective looked at the name.
Cole & Associates.
One of the nation's most respected litigation firms.
He immediately understood who he was speaking with.
"We'll preserve every piece of evidence."
"You have my word."
Harrison nodded once.
"I'll hold you to it."
At that same moment, Richard arrived at the hospital.
He barely reached the waiting room before Harrison stepped into his path.
"I need to see my wife."
"You'll wait."
"Harrison, please."
"I'm begging you."
"For once..."
Harrison answered quietly.
"You don't get to decide."
Richard lowered his head.
"I never wanted this."
"No."
Harrison replied.
"But you allowed it."
He glanced toward the operating room doors.
"My sister trusted you."
"She built a life with you."
"She carried your child."
"And when another woman assaulted her..."
His eyes locked onto Richard's.
"You stood there."
Richard couldn't deny it.
Because he remembered every second.
He had frozen.
By the time he moved...
Khloe was already lying in a pool of blood.
Several minutes later, the detective's phone vibrated.
He opened the message from courthouse security.
Attached were three synchronized camera angles.
He watched silently.
Then replayed the footage.
Again.
Vanessa didn't stumble.
She didn't lose her balance.
She deliberately stepped forward...
Placed both hands against Khloe's shoulders...
And shoved with enough force to send a seven-month-pregnant woman backward down twenty-three marble steps.
The detective slowly locked his phone.
He looked toward another officer.
"Contact the District Attorney."
"This is no longer a simple assault investigation."
"What are we charging?"
The detective answered without hesitation.
"Attempted homicide."
As those words echoed through the hospital corridor, Harrison looked through the operating room window.
Beyond the glass, surgeons fought to save both his sister...
And the little girl she had risked everything to protect.
He made a silent promise.
May you like
No matter how long it took...
The people responsible would answer for every drop of blood left on those courthouse steps.
