Chapter 52 Hello, Wife
Lara's pov
"I'm not your wife."
My voice came out stronger than I felt.
Lucas tilted his head, still smiling through the glass.
"The law already does justice to it. Until the divorce is final, you're still Mrs. Lucas Ward."
"Say what you have to say. I don't have time for all these games again."
He shifted in the hospital bed. The handcuff rattled against the metal rail.
"Always so direct. That's what I loved about you."
"Loved. That's past tense. Now talk or I'm leaving."
Behind me, I heard the detective shift in his chair. Taking notes and recording everything.
Lucas sighed like I was being unreasonable.
"Fine. I wanted to warn you about my sisters."
"What about them?"
"They're planning something. Something huge actually."
I waited. He was dragging this out on purpose.
"What kind of something?"
"Revenge. They blame you for everything. For me being here. For our mother's death. For the family falling apart."
"Your mother died because of stress YOU caused. And you're here because you tried to kill Damien."
His face hardened. "That's your version."
"That's the truth. There were witnesses."
"Were there? Or did they see what they wanted to see?"
This was pointless. He wasn't going to give me real information.
I stood up to leave.
"Wait." His voice changed, now desperate."I'm only trying to help you."
"Why would you help me?"
"Because despite everything, I still care about you."
I almost burst into laughter. "You don't care about anyone but yourself."
"That's not true. I care about Ethan."
My blood turned to ice. "Don't ever say that again.”
"He's part of our family."
"He was never part of your family. He's not your son and he will never be yours."
Lucas leaned forward as much as the handcuff would let him.
"Let me see him. Once. Just to say goodbye."
"Never."
"Five minutes. Supervised. Through glass just like this."
"The answer is no. It will always be no."
His jaw clenched. The nice act was slipping.
"I have legal rights. I was married to you when he was born."
"You have no rights. You're a criminal."
"I can fight for custody. From prison. It happens all the time."
My hands were shaking with rage.
"Try it. See what happens."
"Years of court battles. Lawyers. Ethan having to testify about his home life. Do you want to put him through that?"
He was threatening me. Blackmailing me with my own son.
I grabbed the phone tighter.
"Listen to me very carefully. You will never see Ethan. You will never speak to him. You will never be part of his life. Do you understand?"
"You're making a mistake."
"The only mistake I made was trusting you in the first place."
Lucas's face went cold. All pretense of being nice disappeared.
"You think you're safe? With your boyfriend and your security guards?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means I have friends. People who owe me favors."
"You're handcuffed to a hospital bed."
"For now. But that won't last forever."
Something about the way he said it made my skin crawl.
"You're being transferred to prison next week. Maximum security. You'll die there."
He smiled out loud.
"Maybe. Maybe not. Things happen."
"What things?"
"Accidents. Escapes. Who knows?"
The detective beside me was writing faster now.
"Are you threatening to escape?"
"I'm just saying anything can happen. The world is unpredictable."
I'd heard enough."We're done here."
"Wait, Lara—"
"No. I'm not listening to any more of your manipulation."
"Please. Just hear me out."
"Why? So you can twist everything I say? Make me feel guilty? I know how you operate, Lucas."
He pressed his hand against the glass like he could reach through it.
"I really do love you. I always have."
"You don't know what love is."
"When I get out of here–"
"If you get out. And even then, you'll be in prison for twenty years minimum."
"We'll see."
Those two words. The confidence behind them. It terrified me.
I hung up the phone and walked out of the room without looking back.
Damien was waiting in the hallway.
"How did it go?"
"He's planning something. I don't know what, but something."
"What did he say?"
"That things happen. Accidents. Escapes. Like he knows something we don't."
Margaret was there too. "That could just be him trying to scare you."
"It worked."
The detective came out behind us.
"I'll report this to the prison. They'll increase security during the transfer."
"When is the transfer?" Damien asked.
"Four days from now. Tuesday morning."
"Can they make it sooner?"
"I'll ask. But these things take time to coordinate."
We left the hospital.
I felt so exhausted and drained.
Like Lucas had reached into my chest and squeezed all the energy out.
In the car, Damien held my hand.
"You did good. You didn't give him anything."
"He wants to see Ethan."
"That's never happening."
"He threatened to fight for custody."
"Let him try. He has no legal standing. He's not the biological father."
Margaret spoke from the front seat. "It doesn't. I've already researched this. He has zero claim."
That made me feel slightly better.
But only slightly.
That night, I couldn't stop thinking about Lucas's face.
The confidence. The certainty.
"Things happen."
What did he mean?
Around 11pm, Marcus called Damien.
I could only hear one side of the conversation.
"What? When? How much?"
Damien's face went pale.
"Okay. Thanks for letting me know."
He hung up.
"What is it?"
"Veronica withdrew two hundred thousand dollars in cash. Yesterday."
"Why would she need that much cash?"
"I don't know. But it can't be good."
We called the detective immediately.
He promised to look into it.
But I had a sinking feeling in my stomach.
Two hundred thousand dollars.
Lucas's confidence."Things happen."It was all connected somehow.
The next three days passed in a blur of anxiety.
I barely slept. I kept having nightmares about Lucas escaping. Finding us. Hurting Ethan.
Damien doubled security at the house.
Guards at every entrance. Cameras everywhere.
Ethan noticed as well.
"Mommy, why are there so many guards now?"
"Just being extra safe, baby."
"Is Lucas coming?"
My heart broke. "No. He's going to prison far away. We won't see him anymore."
But even as I said it, I didn't believe it.
Monday night, the phone rang.
Hospital.
"Mrs. Montgomery?"
"Yes?"
"This is Nurse Davis. Lucas Ward asked me to give you a message."
My hands started shaking.
"What message?"
"He said to tell you: I'll see you soon."
I dropped the phone.
Damien picked it up.
"Hello? Hello?"
He hung up and looked at me.
"What did she say?"
"Lucas said he'll see me soon."
"He's just messing with your head."
"What if he's not? What if he really is planning something?"
Damien called the detective.
Told him about the message.
"We'll inform the prison. But the transfer is still happening tomorrow at 10am. Everything's in place."
"You're sure it's secure?"
"Armored van. Armed guards. Police escort. He's not getting away."
But I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
Tuesday morning, I woke up at 5am and waited for 10am.
Damien was already awake too.
"Are you okay?"
"No."
"Me neither."
We got up. Made coffee. Sat at the kitchen table in silence.
At 9:45, I got a text from the detective.
"Transfer starting. Will update when he arrives at prison."
I stared at my phone.
Waiting.
10:00am. Nothing.
10:30am. Still nothing.
"Why isn't he updating us?" I asked.
Damien tried calling. Voicemail.
11:00am. My phone finally rang.Different detective now call. One I didn't recognize.
"Mrs. Montgomery?"
"Yes? What happened?"
"There's been an incident."
Those four words. My world stopped.
"What kind of incident?"
"The transport van. There was an accident on Route 8."
"Is everyone okay?"
Silence. Too long, before she later responded
"Ma'am, Lucas Ward escaped."
I couldn't breathe.
Damien grabbed the phone from my hand.
"What do you mean escaped? How?"
"Armed ambush. Professional operation. They killed two guards and took him."
"When?"
"About an hour ago.An hour."
Lucas had been free for an hour.
And we didn't know.
My phone buzzed.
Text message. Unknown number.
"Told you I'd see you soon. -L"
I screamed.
Another text.
"We have unfinished business, wife."
Then another.
"And I really want to meet my son."
The room started spinning.
Damien caught me before I fell."He's coming for us. He's coming for Ethan."
"No. No, we won't let him."But Lucas was free.
And he knew where we lived.The nightmare was just beginning.