Chapter 2 - The Shockwave
Kenneth stood paralyzed, his eyes bulging as he tried to process the words Colonel, Joint Chiefs, and Pentagon. The arrogant man who had thrown me into the rain three hours ago was now visibly shaking in the presence of one of the highest-ranking military leaders in the country.
"Colonel?" Vanessa whispered, clutching Kenneth's arm in a grip so tight her knuckles turned white. "Kenneth... you said she was a secretary! You said she answered phones for twenty-two dollars an hour!"
Kenneth couldn't answer. His throat was completely dry. "Sabrina... what... what is this? Is this some kind of sick joke? You're an administrative clerk!"
"I never said I was a clerk, Kenneth," I replied calmly, adjusting Victoria in my arms as General Pendelton stood at attention beside my bed. "You simply assumed I was because you never bothered to ask about my work. You were too busy focusing on yourself."
"Military Police," General Pendelton commanded sharply, turning to the two armed MPs at the door. "Escort these two civilians off hospital grounds immediately. They are trespassing in a secure military medical facility without clearance."
"Wait! General, please!" Kenneth pleaded, stepping backward as the two imposing MPs closed in on him. "I'm her husband! That's my daughter!"
"You surrendered your rights to be in this room the moment you threw a heavily pregnant officer out into a storm, Mr. Bradsdale," General Pendelton snapped back, his voice like iron. "Move out. Now."
The MPs took Kenneth and Vanessa by their arms, forcefully turning them around and marching them down the corridor. Kenneth kept looking back over his shoulder, his eyes wide with horror, regret, and utter disbelief as the heavy wooden doors closed behind them.
Once they were gone, General Pendelton’s stern expression softened completely. He looked at my baby girl with warm, grandfatherly eyes.
"He was an idiot, Sabrina," Pendelton said softly, pulling up a chair beside my bed. "Your grandfather Roderick would have personally thrown that boy off a bridge if he were still here."
"Grandfather knew how to handle men like Kenneth," I smiled, a small tear finally escaping my eye—not of sadness, but of pure relief.
"Speaking of your grandfather," Pendelton added, pulling a sealed manila envelope from his leather briefcase, "your lead estate attorney, Mr. Harrison Vance, is waiting outside. The ninety-day legal review of Roderick Fairview’s trust was completed at midnight. The twenty million dollar inheritance has been fully cleared and released into your private control."
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He placed the documents on my bedside table.
"You are a decorated Army Colonel, the commander of the 754th Strategic Intelligence Wing, and an heiress to twenty million dollars, Sabrina," General Pendelton said proudly. "That little man didn't throw away dead weight tonight. He threw away the greatest treasure he will ever see in his pathetic life."
