The quiet hum of heart monitors filled the private room on the fourth floor of St. Jude's Hospital.
Clara lay in the white hospital bed, an IV line hooked to her arm as her mother sat beside her, holding her hand.
Clara's Mother: Oh, my sweet girl... I can't believe that monster put his hands on you.
Clara: The doctor said the baby is stable, Mom... that's all that matters to me.
Clara's Mother: Thank God... thank God my grandchild is safe.
The heavy wooden door opened, and a tall man in a charcoal suit walked into the room carrying a leather briefcase.
Mr. Vance: Good evening, Clara. Mrs. Miller.
Clara: Mr. Vance... did you talk to the police station?
Mr. Vance: I just came from the central precinct. Mark is being held without bail on charges of felony domestic assault and reckless endangerment.
Clara's Mother: Good! Let him rot in a cell!
Mr. Vance: He hired Arthur Sterling as his defense lawyer an hour ago.
Clara: Arthur Sterling? The high-priced corporate divorce attorney?
Mr. Vance: The very same. Sterling is already trying to claim that Mark's shove was accidental.
Clara: Accidental?! He looked me right in the eyes and told me to get out of his way!
Mr. Vance: I know, Clara. But Sterling is going to push for a full settlement deal to drop the criminal charges.
Clara: Tell him no. Not a chance.
Mr. Vance: Mark is offering to surrender his shares in Miller Logistics if you sign an agreement not to testify in court.
Clara pulled herself up against the pillows, her eyes burning with fierce determination.
Clara: He stole five hundred thousand dollars from my father's trust fund account yesterday, didn't he?
Mr. Vance: The forensic accountant confirmed it thirty minutes ago. He transferred the money into a offshore shell account in the Caymans.
Clara's Mother: The nerve of that man! That money was supposed to fund our family's children's charity!
Clara: Mr. Vance, pull up the prenuptial contract we signed four years ago.
Mr. Vance unzipped his briefcase and pulled out a thick stapled document bound in blue paper.
Mr. Vance: Right here, Clara. Section 14, Clause B.
Clara: Read the infidelity and physical misconduct penalty out loud so my mother can hear it.
Mr. Vance: "In the event that either spouse engages in physical abuse, domestic violence, or illegal financial misappropriation, the offending party forfeits all rights to marital property, corporate equity, and spousal support."
Clara: Which means Mark doesn't get to trade his shares for my silence... he already lost them the second he shoved me.
Mr. Vance: Exactly. By law, his entire thirty percent equity in Miller Logistics automatically reverts to you tomorrow morning.
Clara: Then tell Mr. Sterling that his client can keep his settlement offer... because we're taking everything he has left in court.