This was her fight. And she was ready to win it. Maybe they would have. If everything had gone according to plan.
“Everyone must leave the building immediately. We’ve received a bomb threat. Evacuation is underway. Please remain calm.”
For a second, everything froze.
Then the noise erupted—chairs scraping back, people moving, voices rising. The judge was already gathering documents into a folder. Everyone headed for the exits.
And Nina…
She just sat there. Not believing it. Not understanding.
“Let’s go,” her attorney said quietly, touching her elbow.“Come on, Nina.”
She stood as if in a daze.
They exited the courtroom and ended up outside, on the courthouse steps, where a crowd had already gathered. Fire trucks. Flashing lights. Bomb squad. Emergency crews. Uniforms everywhere.
It was real.
Or at least it looked real.
Nina stood there with her hands clenched into fists, furious. Burning with impatience. She wanted this over today, but no. Some idiot had called in a bomb threat, and Nina was almost certain it was another false alarm. Every day someone reported a bomb at a school or a train station.
She turned her head, and locked eyes with Frank.
He stood a little distance away, talking to someone and… smiling.
Smiling.
The world tilted. Nina felt the blood slam into her temples. She had no doubt who was behind this. How childish.
Her attorney and the guards stood beside her. The attorney narrowed his eyes, looking in the same direction, then clicked his tongue in irritation.
“Clever move,” he said.“Classic. Stall for time. Buy a couple of weeks. Figure out a way out.” He paused.“There’s about a ninety percent chance the hearing gets postponed.”
Nina clenched her teeth.
“I hate him,” she whispered.
She kept looking at Frank.
He knew she was watching.
Their eyes met and he lifted one brow slightly. Mocking her. Playing with her nerves.
“I’ll be in the car,” Nina said.“Let me know when something becomes clear.”
She turned toward the SUV parked by the courthouse.
At that exact moment, her phone buzzed with a message from an unknown number:
Back off, or you’ll regret it. Everyone will learn about your past.
Nina closed her hand tightly around the phone.
He was trying to finish her off. But she wasn’t the same woman she used to be.
Now, she was stronger.
