CHAPTER 10 — The Price of Underestimating a Mother
Forty-eight hours later.
The Prescott estate was no longer silent because of luxury.
It was silent because of search teams.
Bank accounts frozen.
Assets seized.
Federal warrants executed.
Emily was discharged into my care.
She held my arm the entire time.
Like she was afraid I might disappear if she let go.
At the car, she finally spoke.
“Mom… what happens now?”
I looked at her.
And softened for the first time since the hospital.
“Now,” I said, “we rebuild what they tried to break.”
Behind us, Ethan was escorted into a vehicle.
He saw Emily once.
She didn’t look back.
Margaret stood frozen on the steps of her mansion, watching everything she built collapse in real time.
She called out once.
“Colonel Hart!”
I turned slightly.
She hesitated.
Then, quieter:
“What do you want?”
I looked at her for a long moment.
Then answered:
May you like
“For my daughter to never be afraid again.”
And I walked away.
