Beyond The Ethics:

Chapter 5: I'm coming

Sarah's Pov

The bar association notification glowed on Marcus's phone like a death sentence. My stomach churned as I read the words "gross ethical violations."

"What does this mean for us?" I asked, my voice trembling.

Marcus's jaw tightened. "It means I could be suspended. David is trying to take away your only defense."

The world seemed to tilt around me. "He can't do that, can he?"

Before Marcus could answer, my phone buzzed. A text from David

“Having fun with your lawyer? Wait until you see what's next.”

A photo followed Chloe playing alone in what looked like a stark, white room. No toys, No windows, Just my little girl sitting on a cold-looking floor.

My breath caught. "Marcus... he has her somewhere new. Somewhere... empty."

He took my phone, his eyes narrowing. "That's not his house, that looks like an institution."

The word hit me like a physical blow. "An institution? What kind of institution?"

Before he could answer, another text came through from David.

“She misses her mother, pity her mother doesn't miss her enough to do the right thing.”

Tears streamed down my face. "We have to get her out of there!"

"We will," Marcus said, his voice tired. "But we need to be smart about this."

We drove to the new safe house in silence, the weight of everything pressing down on us. Once we entered inside, Marcus made calls while I paced, Chloe's lonely image burned into my mind.

After an hour, he hung up, his expression dark. "I've got bad news, David's filed another motion this time to have you declared an unfit mother based on the photo and his claims of your 'erratic behavior."

"The hearing is tomorrow morning."

My legs felt weak and buckled. "But the judge just said..."

"David found another judge, one he owns completely." Marcus ran a hand through his hair.

"We're running out of options, Sarah."

Suddenly, my phone rang. An unknown number, with shaking hands, I answered.

"Mommy?" Chloe's small voice trembled through the phone.

"Baby! Where are you? Are you okay?"

"Daddy says I have to stay here until you stop being bad." She started crying. "I want to come home, Mommy. The lady here is mean, and I'm scared."

My heart shattered. "I'm coming to get you, sweetheart. I promise."

The line went dead. I looked at Marcus, tears streaming down my face. "We have to do something. Now."

He pulled me into a hug. "We will i have one more play it's risky, but it might work."

Just then, his phone buzzed with an emergency alert. He read it, his face going pale.

"What? What is it?"

He showed me the screen. A news alert: Prominent Attorney Marcus Thorne Under Investigation for Multiple Ethics Violations.

"It's over." he whispered defeatedly.

"My license has been suspended."

“I can't represent you anymore."

The world crashed down around me. No lawyer. No money. My daughter trapped somewhere awful.

But as I looked at Marcus's defeated expression, something in me hardened. David thought he had won. He thought he had broken me.

He was wrong.

I stood up straight, wiping my tears. "Then I'll represent myself."

Marcus stared at me. "Sarah, you can't, you're not a lawyer."

"I'm a mother." I said, my voice steady for the first time in weeks.

"And I'm done playing by his rules."

I picked up my phone and did something I never thought I'd have the courage to do. I called David.

He answered on the first ring, his voice smug. "Finally ready to surrender?"

I took a deep breath, my eyes meeting Marcus's shocked ones. "No, David. I'm ready to fight, and I have news for you."

I paused, letting the silence stretch before delivering the blow I knew would change everything.

"I'm pregnant. And thanks to your little photos, we have proof it could be yours or Marcus's.”

“So ask yourself do you really want to explain to the world why you're trying to destroy the mother of your possible child?"

The silence on the other end was deafening. I could almost hear his heart beat.

Then, in a voice so cold it made my blood run cold."There's an easy solution to that problem Sarah, and I guarantee you won't see it coming."

The line went dead, and in that moment, I knew the war had just turned deadly.

The hours after that phone call stretched into an endless nightmare. Marcus tried to contact his legal connections, but one by one, they all turned him down.

"They're scared of David." he finally admitted, throwing his phone on the couch in frustration.

"He's got too much dirt on too many people."

I paced the small living room of the safe house. "What about going to the media? If we tell them what David's doing..."

"And say what?" Marcus interrupted gently.

"That your husband has your daughter in a secure facility?”

“We have no proof of where she is.”

“That he's threatening you? The texts are from untraceable numbers.”

"All we have is that photo of us, which makes us look guilty, not him."

He was right, and the truth of it made me want to scream. David had built his trap perfectly, leaving us with no way out.

As night fell, I found myself standing by the window, watching the city lights twinkle below. They seemed so peaceful, so normal.

I tried to imagine the people in those buildings were they having dinner with their families? Reading bedtime stories to their children?

The thought of Chloe, alone and frightened in some sterile institution, made my chest ache so badly I could barely breathe.

"I need air." I whispered to Marcus.

He looked up from his laptop, his face drawn with exhaustion. "I'll come with you."

"No." I said firmly. "I need a minute alone, just down to the lobby, i won't leave the building."

He hesitated, but finally nodded. "Five minutes, and keep your phone on you."

The elevator ride down felt like descending into a different world. The polished marble lobby was empty except for the night security guard, who gave me a polite nod before returning to his post.

I walked to the large glass doors, staring out at the dark street. Rain had started to fall, painting the pavement reflections of streetlights.

For a moment, I allowed myself to imagine just walking out those doors and never looking back. But I could never leave Chloe.

As I turned to head back upstairs, my phone buzzed. Another unknown number. My heart leaped was it Chloe again?

But the message wasn't from my daughter. It was a single sentence that made the blood drain from my face.

“I know what really happened the night of the shooting.”

Attached was a photo not of me and Marcus, but of the shooters themselves. Two men in dark clothing, their faces clearly visible as they aimed their weapons at Marcus's office window.

My hands trembled so badly I almost dropped the phone. Who was this? And how did they get this photo?

Before I could process it, another message came through

“Meet me alone, come to the coffee shop on the corner in five minutes.

“Tell no one especially not your lawyer.”

I stared at the messages. This could be another one of David's traps, or it could be the break we desperately needed.

Looking toward the security guard, then up toward the floor where Marcus waited, I made a decision that could either save us or destroy us completely.

I typed a quick reply

“I'm coming.”