Chapter 4 - The Face of Reckoning
"Look at you," Russell spat as Callie approached the gate. "Living like a queen while I’m starving in a motel! You did this to me, Callie! You and your prehistoric uncle!"
Callie stopped a few feet from the gate, looking at him with a calm, chilling indifference. "I didn't do anything to you, Russell. You did this to yourself the moment you walked into that NICU with a pen and a camera crew of one."
"I was angry! I made a mistake!" Russell pleaded, his tone suddenly shifting to a pathetic whine. "We were married for five years, Callie. Doesn't that mean anything to you? I want to see my son and daughter. I have parental rights!"
"Parental rights?" Callie laughed, a cold, mocking sound that cut Russell to the quick. "You couldn't even spell Elise's name correctly on the divorce papers you tried to force me to sign. You didn't care if they lived or died. You called them 'fragile' and 'a waste of your life.' You waived all rights to them in your own drafted agreement."
"That draft was never finalized!"
"No, but your criminal investigation was," a voice boomed from behind Callie.
Colonel Whitaker walked down the driveway, accompanied by two federal agents in dark suits.
Russell froze, his hand dropping from the iron gate.
"Russell Harlan," one of the agents said, pulling out a warrant. "You are under arrest for federal tax evasion, money laundering through offshore accounts, and corporate embezzlement of government-contracted funds."
"No... no! That’s not true! Callie, tell them! Help me!" Russell screamed as the gates slowly opened and the agents stepped through, grabbing his arms and forcing them behind his back.
"You are going to prison, Mr. Harlan," the agent continued, clicking the metal handcuffs around Russell's wrists. "And thanks to the evidence provided by Whitaker Global’s forensic accountants, you won't be seeing the light of day for a very long time."
As they dragged Russell toward a waiting black SUV, he looked back at Callie, his face twisted in a mixture of terror and regret. "Callie! Please! Don't do this to the father of your children!"
May you like
Callie stood tall, her hand resting over her heart. "The father of my children would have brought flowers to the hospital, Russell. He would have held my hand while they fought for their lives. You are nothing to them. And you are nothing to me."
She turned her back on him, walking back toward her beautiful home as the sound of police sirens faded into the distance.
