Katherine hadn’t blinked. She’d simply picked up her pen.
“Tell me everything.”
I treaded water now, watching the coastline in the distance. My waterproof watch—the one with the GPS tracker I’d activated the moment Richard shoved me—glowed faintly on my wrist.
They would find me.
The private security team I’d hired was already tracking my location. In less than twenty minutes, a boat would arrive. I would be taken to a private medical facility where doctors I trusted would check on my baby.
And Richard?
Richard would go home to our Malibu estate.
He would pour himself a drink.
He would rehearse his grief.
And at exactly eight o’clock tonight, Katherine Chen would arrive at our door with two FBI agents and a warrant for his arrest.
Because what Richard didn’t know—what he couldn’t possibly know—was that for the last two months, every room in our house had been equipped with audio recording devices.
Every conversation he’d had with his mistress, planning my death.
Every phone call with the pilot he’d bribed.
Every single word.
All of it was already in the hands of federal investigators.
The boat appeared on the horizon, moving fast.
I kept my head above water, one hand pressed protectively over my stomach.
“We’re okay,” I whispered to my baby. “We’re going to be okay.”
But as the boat drew closer, something cold settled in my chest.
This wasn’t over.
Richard was going to prison, yes.
But there was still one thing I didn’t understand.
One question that had haunted me through all my careful planning.
Why now?
Richard had married me three years ago. He’d had access to wealth, comfort, everything most people dreamed of. Yes, he didn’t control my fortune, but he lived in luxury.
So why had he suddenly decided to kill me? Why take this enormous risk?
The answer, I would learn, was worse than anything I’d imagined.
The security team pulled me from the water with practiced efficiency. Warm blankets. A medical check. Gentle voices asking if I was hurt.
“The baby?” I managed through chattering teeth.
“We’re taking you to Dr. Reeves right now,” the team leader, Marcus, assured me. “She’s waiting.”
Thirty minutes later, I was in a private clinic, lying on an examination table while Dr. Reeves moved the ultrasound wand across my stomach.
The baby’s heartbeat filled the room.
Strong. Steady. Alive.
I closed my eyes and let the tears come.
“Everything looks good,” Dr. Reeves said softly. “You and your daughter are both healthy.”
Daughter.
I’d known for weeks, but hearing it now—after everything—made it real in a way it hadn’t been before.
Richard had tried to kill his own daughter.
“Mrs. Hayes,” Marcus appeared in the doorway. “Katherine Chen is on the line. She says it’s urgent.”
I took the phone with shaking hands.
“Amelia.” Katherine’s voice was tight. “Richard isn’t at the house.”
The warm relief in my chest turned to ice.
“What?”
“The FBI went to your estate at eight o’clock as planned. He’s not there. His car is gone. We’ve checked his credit cards, his phone—nothing. He’s running.”
I sat up too quickly, the ultrasound wand falling away. “How? How does he know?”
“We don’t know. But Amelia—there’s something else.” Katherine’s pause made my stomach drop. “When the FBI searched your house, they found something in Richard’s office. Documents. A lot of them.”
“What kind of documents?”
“Evidence that Richard isn’t just after your money. He’s been systematically moving funds from your company for the last eighteen months. We’re talking hundreds of millions of dollars, Amelia. He’s been planning this much longer than we thought.”
The room tilted.
“That’s impossible. I would have seen—”
