Chapter 3: The Paper Storm
The peace Evelyn had fought so hard to build shattered on a rainy Tuesday morning during her seventh month of pregnancy. A sharp, heavy knock echoed through the cottage. Expecting the local grocer, Evelyn opened the door only to be met by a stern man in a dark grey suit. He handed her a thick manila folder.
"Evelyn Vance? You’ve been served," the man said mechanically before turning back toward his car.
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Inside the folder were court documents filed by Preston’s high-priced legal team. He was suing for full custody of the unborn twins, painting Evelyn as an unstable, deserting wife who had kidnapped his children and fled the state. The documents demanded she return to New York immediately for a mandatory psychological evaluation.
Sitting on her wooden kitchen floor, clutching her belly as the twins kicked in tandem, a terrifying wave of panic threatened to consume her. But as she looked out at the churning Atlantic ocean, the panic transformed into a fierce, maternal rage. Preston thought her isolation made her weak. He forgot that she was a Vance, and though she had walked away from the family empire to marry him, she still carried the blood of titans. She powered on an old laptop, bypassed her personal networks, and sent a single encrypted message to her father’s personal attorney. The war had officially begun.
