Chapter 2: The Man They Underestimated
Carter’s confidence vanished so quickly it almost frightened me.
Almost.
For the first time that night, he looked uncertain.
Not scared.
Not yet.
But uncertain.
He glanced at his mother.
She noticed too.
“Tell him who you are,” Mrs. Eleanor whispered.
Carter cleared his throat.
“This is Carter Whitmore.””
Silence.
Then my father answered.
“I know exactly who you are.””
I closed my eyes.
Even through the pain, I felt something I hadn’t felt in years.
Safety.
My father had always been that way.
He wasn’t loud.
He wasn’t someone who needed everyone to know his name.
He simply showed up.
“Where is my daughter?”” my father asked.
Carter looked at me.
“She’s being emotional.””
My fingers tightened around the counter.
My father heard the hesitation.
“Put her on the phone.””
Carter laughed nervously.
“She’s fine.””
That was when my father’s voice changed.
It became colder.
“Put my daughter on the phone.””
The kitchen went quiet.
Carter slowly handed me the phone.
I pressed it against my ear.
“Dad…”
The second I said that word, my voice broke.
“I’m here,” he said.
Two words.
That was all it took.
I started crying.
Not because I was weak.
Because I had been strong for too long.
“I’m bleeding,” I whispered.
A pause.
A dangerous pause.
Then my father asked, “Are you still in the house?””
“Yes.””
“Is Carter there?””
I looked at my husband.
“Yes.””
My father exhaled slowly.
“Listen to me carefully. Do not move unless you have to. Do not argue. Keep yourself and the baby safe.””
Carter grabbed the phone back.
“You’re overreacting.””
My father responded immediately.
“No. You are.””
Something in his tone made Carter stop.
“I don’t know what you think your family name means,” my father continued, “but tonight you made the biggest mistake of your life.””
Carter’s face hardened.
“You threatening me?””
“No.””
My father’s voice remained calm.
“I’m informing you.””
Mrs. Eleanor stepped forward.
“You have no idea who you’re speaking to.””
My father almost sounded amused.
“I know exactly who I’m speaking to.””
She smiled.
“Carter is an attorney.””
“And?””
Her smile faded.
My father continued.
“My daughter’s safety matters more to me than your son’s career.””
Carter looked angry again.
He hated that someone wasn’t intimidated.
“You don’t know how things work here.””
My father answered:
“I know how things work everywhere.””
Then the line went silent.
For a moment, I thought the call had dropped.
Then my father said:
“Someone will be there soon.””
Carter stared at the phone.
“Who?””
My father didn’t answer.
He just ended the call.
The silence afterward was unbearable.
Carter looked at me.
“What did you do?””
I almost couldn’t believe him.
“What did I do?””
“You called him like I’m some criminal.””
I laughed weakly.
A strange sound.
Because after everything, that was what bothered him.
Not the blood.
Not the baby.
Not the fact that he hit me.
His image.
His reputation.
“You hurt me,” I said.
Carter’s expression changed.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
The moment he realized he might not control the story anymore.
“You’re going to regret this.””
Mrs. Eleanor picked up a napkin and wiped a spot of sauce from the table.
“You should have kept family problems inside the family.””
I looked at her.
“You pushed me.””
She shrugged.
“You fell.””
Those words stayed with me.
Not because they surprised me.
Because they confirmed everything.
They would never admit what they did.
They would only rewrite it.
A few minutes later, headlights appeared through the window.
Carter looked outside.
His face changed.
Not because he recognized the vehicle.
Because of how many there were.
A black SUV stopped outside.
Then another.
Carter walked toward the window.
“What is this?””
I didn’t know either.
The front door opened.
A woman’s voice called from the entryway.
“Where is she?””
Carter froze.
A man stepped inside behind her.
He looked directly at me.
Then at the blood on the floor.
His expression turned into something I had never seen before.
Pure anger.
“Isabelle.””
I started crying again.
“Dad.””
My father crossed the room faster than I thought a man his age could move.
He dropped beside me.
Not caring about the expensive suit he was wearing.
Not caring about the people watching.
Only me.
Only his daughter.
“Are you hurt anywhere else?””
I shook my head.
“My baby…”
“He’s going to be okay,” my father said.
But his eyes told me he wasn’t promising.
He was praying.
Behind him, another person entered.
A woman holding a medical bag.
Carter stepped back.
“Who are these people?””
My father looked up.
For the first time all night, Carter looked small.
“These are people who came because my daughter needed help.””
The medical woman checked me quickly.
“We need to leave now.””
Carter stepped forward.
“You can’t just take her.””
My father stood.
And when he did, the entire room seemed to shift.
“You’re right.””
Carter smirked.
“Good.””
My father looked him directly in the eyes.
“I’m not taking her.””
A pause.
“I’m rescuing her.””
Carter’s face turned red.
“You think you can intimidate me?””
My father reached into his coat and pulled out his phone.
“No.””
He looked at the screen.
“I think evidence can.””
Carter went still.
“What evidence?””
My father looked at him.
“The recording from this call.””
My blood ran cold.
I had forgotten.
Carter had called from my phone.
The entire conversation had been recorded automatically.
Carter looked at his own phone.
Then back at my father.
“You wouldn’t.””
My father’s voice was quiet.
“You should have thought about that before you touched my daughter.””
As they helped me toward the door, I looked back one last time.
Carter wasn’t angry anymore.
He was calculating.
And that scared me.
Because I knew Carter.
He didn’t apologize when he lost.
He planned.
As I was placed into the vehicle, my father sat beside me.
He held my hand.
“You’re safe now.””
I wanted to believe him.
But as we pulled away, my phone buzzed.
A message appeared from an unknown number.
One sentence.
May you like
And the name at the bottom made my blood freeze.
*“You don’t know what your husband has been hiding from you.””*
