Chapter 5 - Michael's Desperate Pursuit and Public Disgrace
For the next forty-eight hours, Michael stayed at a cheap motel near the interstate, his phone ringing off the hook with calls from his corporate defense attorneys.
The logistics firm had officially terminated his contract by Tuesday afternoon, citing a morality clause that stripped him of his multi-million-dollar severance package.
His friends—the ones who had sat in the black SUV laughing while Emily bled—had completely blocked his number to protect their own careers.
He was entirely alone, trapped in a room that smelled of old cigarettes and cheap cleaner, staring at a legal summons for a custody hearing scheduled for Thursday morning.
He decided to fight back using the only weapon he had left: his mother's high-profile connections in the city administration.
He arrived at the family courthouse wearing his best navy suit, his hair carefully combed, attempting to look like the picture-perfect husband the newspapers had defamed.
But when he walked into the corridor, the media cameras were already waiting for him.
Emily was sitting near the defense table, flanked by two top-tier family law attorneys who specialized in corporate asset protection.
She looked pale, and her physical recovery was clearly far from complete, but her eyes were entirely steady as she looked at the man she used to love.
Noah wasn't in the room; he was safe at a secure medical facility under the protection of twenty-four-hour private security funded by Emily’s family trust.
Michael walked straight toward her table, his teeth clenched as he leaned down to whisper over her shoulder.
“You think you can ruin me, Emily?” he hissed. “I’ll tell the judge you’re mentally unstable, I’ll take that boy so fast your head will spin.”
Emily didn't flinch, she didn't cry, and she didn't look away from his furious expression.
May you like
She simply pointed toward the judge's bench as the bailiff called the room to order.
“The court is now in session for the matter of Preston v. Preston.”
