Chapter 99: Caged 2

Amelia’s POV

The echo of my final threat still hung in the air of the guest bedroom. Richard stood in the centre of the room, completely paralysed. His mouth opened to speak, but no words came out. The absolute power he had used to terrorise our household for decades had just been permanently shattered. He looked small and utterly defeated.

I turned my back on him completely, walked out into the hallway, and locked his door from the outside.

"Amelia! Let me out!" Richard shouted, his fists pounding against the door His voice sounded frantic now, stripped of all his usual corporate confidence.

"You can't do this! Open this door right now! We need to discuss the company!. We need to talk about the press!"

I stood in the hallway, my hands resting on the lock.

"There is nothing left to talk about, Richard. You have ten minutes to pack a bag. If you are still in this room when the clock strikes twelve-thirty, I am calling the police and the media. I will show them every single document."

"You are losing your mind!" Richard yelled back, his voice muffled by the door. "If the media gets a hold of those documents, the Hampton brand is finished! The stocks will plummet! Is that what you want? To ruin everything I built?"

"You didn't build it, Richard. You bought it with my father's money and influence," I said coldly. "Your ten minutes start now."

The pounding stopped instantly. The silence that followed was total. He knew I meant it. For the first time in twenty years, he knew he had zero leverage over me.

I turned around and walked down the grand staircase to the foyer. Sitting on the bottom step, watching the clock tick away the minutes. Exactly ten minutes later, I walked back upstairs and unlocked the door.

Richard was standing there, holding a single black leather suitcase, and his hair was messy. He looked like a stranger. He glared at me, his eyes full of hatred, but his hands were visibly shaking.

"You will regret this, Amelia," he hissed, stepping past me into the hallway. "By tomorrow morning, I will freeze every asset. You won't have a dime to your name. Let's see how tough you are when the cards are declined."

"Try it," I said, my voice completely flat. "My father's lawyers have been waiting for a reason to audit your accounts. If you touch my inheritance, they will destroy you before noon. Now get out of my house."

"Your house?" Richard scoffed, stopping at the top of the stairs. He turned around to face me, trying to look imposing. "I ran this place. I kept the lights on. You think you can manage this estate alone? You'll be begging me to come back in a week."

"I would rather watch this house burn to the ground than let you set foot in it again," I replied, pointing down the stairs. "Keep walking, Richard."

Richard didn't say another word. He hurried down the stairs, his shoes clicking loudly on the marble. He opened the front door and stepped out into the freezing night. The door slammed shut behind him.

A few seconds later, the roar of his sports car faded down the driveway. He was gone.

The house instantly felt cleaner. The heavy, suffocating energy that had ruled this place for years left with him.

I took the master key ring from the hallway cabinet and walked up to the locked upper wing. My hands shook as I unlocked Kieran’s bedroom door. The lock made a loud clicking sound. I pushed the door open into the pitch-black room. It smelled heavily of synthetic medicine.

"Kieran?" I called out softly, turning on a small bedside lamp.

Kieran was shivering under the blankets, shielding his eyes from the light. He looked incredibly pale. seems he heard the shouting downstairs and was curled into a tight ball, waiting for the worst.

"Mom?" his voice was a weak, fragile whisper. "What happened? Is Dad coming back up? Is he mad at me? Did I do something wrong?"

I rushed to the bed and pulled him into my arms. He was burning up with a fever, his body shaking violently against mine.

"No, sweetheart. Never again," I whispered fiercely, holding him tightly against my chest. "I kicked him out. He is gone. He left the house, Kieran. You are safe now. I have you."

Kieran let out a ragged breath, gripping my robe tightly. He started to cry softly, his shoulders shaking.

"He said I had to play, Mom. He said if I didn't get on the ice for the championship, I would lose everything. He said it was all my fault because I fainted."

"He lied," I said, rubbing his back in slow circles. "He lied about everything to control you. It is not your fault. None of this is your fault."

"But the scouts, Mom..." Kieran sobbed, hiding his face in my shoulder. "The championship game is next week. If I'm not there, my career is over. Dad said I would be nothing without hockey."

"Look at me, Kieran," I commanded softly, pulling back just enough to see his face. "You are my son. You are everything to me, with or without a hockey stick. Your career doesn't matter right now. Your life does."

"I was so scared," Kieran whispered, his eyes filled with pain. "My legs hurt so much, Mom. My chest feels tight. The room keeps spinning when I open my eyes."

"I know, baby. The medicine he gave you is bad, but we are going to fix it," I promised him. "I am going to get you real help. A real doctor. I am not leaving your side."

I helped him lie back down and pulled the warm blanket up to his chin. He looked completely exhausted. The dangerous drug was finally leaving his body, causing a severe physical crash. I stayed by his side until his eyes closed and his breathing slowed down.

I left his bedroom door wide open so he would never feel trapped again, and I went downstairs to the kitchen to make a phone call.

"Arthur?" I said when the call connected. He was my family's trusted security chief, a man my father had hired years ago before Richard pushed him away.

"Richard is gone. I just kicked him out."

There was a short pause on the line. "Are you alright, Mrs Hampton? Did he hurt you or Kieran?"

"We are safe, but I need you here," I said. "Bring a full team to the house immediately. I want you to change every single security code on the gates and the doors. Reprogram the smart locks. Revoke all of Richard's digital access codes. If he comes near the property, do not call me. Call the police directly."

"Understood, Mrs Hampton," Arthur replied firmly. "I have the boys ready. We will be there in twenty minutes. Don't worry, we will secure the perimeter."

"Thank you, Arthur. Please hurry," I said, and hung up.

By 2:30 AM, the security team arrived. I went down to meet them in the foyer.

"We are starting with the main gate codes, ma'am," Arthur explained, holding a digital tablet. "Then my men will swap out the physical locks on all outer doors. He won't even be able to get past the driveway."

"Good," I nodded. "Make sure his remote garage openers are deactivated too."

"Already on it," Arthur assured me. "Go get some rest, Mrs Hampton. We have the house covered."

After checking on the security team, I walked upstairs and stood on the master balcony. I looked out at the long driveway. For years, I had felt like a prisoner in this house, staying quiet just to keep the peace.

But as I watched the front gates close and lock with a loud, permanent chime, I felt a surge of true strength.

Arthur walked up to the balcony and handed me a new digital key card.

"The codes are changed, ma'am," Arthur said. "He cannot get back in."

"Thank you, Arthur," I said.

This house belongs to me now. Richard was gone, and he was never coming back. I walked back inside to sit by my son's bed, ready to help him heal.