The morning air outside the Valmont City Family Tribunal felt strangely heavy. Reporters gathered behind metal barriers, murmuring as if they sensed something far beyond a routine legal dispute. Their cameras were already raised, waiting for any movement that could spark a headline.
Inside a modest taxi that had just pulled up, Marina Solberg, thirty one years old and eight months pregnant, hesitated before stepping out. Her soft grey dress clung to her like a fragile curtain, and although she tried to keep her posture steady, her hands trembled uncontrollably. She inhaled deeply and whispered to herself.
“I can do this. I have to.”
She approached the courthouse entrance, clutching the strap of her bag as if it were the only thing keeping her upright. She was there to request a protective order against her husband, Cassian Vautrin, one of the most powerful biotech magnates in the country. The public knew him as a genius philanthropist. Marina knew him as the man who had slowly turned her life into a cage.
A sleek silver car stopped near the curb. The door opened and Cassian stepped out, adjusting his suit with effortless confidence. Beside him walked Sabine Duvall, his lover, dressed in a crimson pantsuit that made every photographer lean forward. They appeared radiant, posed, and almost celebratory. Their presence created a ripple of whispers that spread through the crowd like wildfire.
Marina lowered her gaze. Her heart pounded so violently she feared it might harm her unborn child.
Inside the courtroom, Judge Renard Callister reviewed documents at his bench with an expression carved from stone. When he looked up and saw Marina being helped into her seat, a strange sense of recognition flickered across his face. He pushed the feeling away and cleared his throat.
“Let us begin.”
Marina’s attorney presented a series of reports that documented financial manipulation, restricted communication access, and subtle threats that had cornered Marina for months. Marina herself spoke quietly, her voice wavering each time she felt the baby shift beneath her ribs. Every detail she revealed forced her to relive moments she wished she could erase.