The Wrath Of Adrian Morgan

Chapter 2: Just A Phone Call

" By one in the morning" Brenna was on the phone with Lupita, pacing the length of her closet in her

robe, voice pitched somewhere between rage and self-pity.

"He wants a divorce," she said. "Can you believe the nerve of him?"

There was a pause on the other end, and then Lupita's voice came through bright with delight.

"Finally! Brenna, this is good news. This is the best news I've heard all month."

"It is not good news, Lupita, he's trying to humiliate me—"

"He's trying to get his hands on your money, is what he's trying to do." Lupita's tone sharpened into

something professional now, the divorce attorney voice she used on clients twice a week. "Men

like that always wait until there's real money on the table. Don't worry. I'll draft the agreement

myself tonight. He won't see a single cent, I promise you that."

Brenna exhaled, some of the tension leaving her shoulders. That, at least, was something to hold

onto. Tomorrow she was set to sign the cooperation agreement with the Ramirez family — an

agreement that would double her company's valuation overnight — and she was not about to let

Adrian siphon off any part of that future. "Good," she said. "Make sure of it." Down the hall in Riley's room, Adrian's hands had stopped shaking.

The door was cracked open, a nightlight throwing soft shapes across the ceiling. Riley was sitting

up in bed, seven years old and wide awake, hugging her stuffed rabbit to her chest.

"I heard," she said before he could speak. "You and Mommy are getting a divorce."

Adrian sat on the edge of the bed and smoothed her hair back. "I'm sorry you heard that baby."

"I'm not sad." Riley's voice was small but steady, the voice of a child who had learned to sound

braver than she felt. "Mommy's never home anyway. But you always come to my school things.

You always know what I like." She looked up at him. "I'll always love you, Daddy. Even if nobody

else does."

Something in Adrian's chest, already cracked, split fully open. He pulled her into a hug and said

nothing, because there was nothing that wouldn't have broken his voice.

After she fell asleep, he stepped out onto the balcony, took out his phone, and made a call he hadn't

made in almost five years.

It rang once before a man's voice answered, breathless, almost trembling. "Young master? Young

master, is that you?"

"Marcus," Adrian said. "I need somewhere to stay. For me and my daughter."

There was a silence on the line, thick enough to hear a grown man's throat working to keep from

sobbing. "Anything," Marcus Ramirez finally managed. "Anything. Just say the word."

Three hundred miles across the city, inside the Ramirez family compound, Marcus struck the old

bronze bell mounted by the main gate — a bell that hadn't rung in over a decade. Within twenty

minutes, every Ramirez under that roof stood assembled in the courtyard in their pajamas,

blinking in confusion.

"Tomorrow," Marcus announced, voice booming with an authority none of them had heard in

years, "every single one of us will go out to welcome someone. A very, very important person.

Whatever plans you have — cancel them."

A younger cousin near the back raised a tentative hand. "Grandfather, tomorrow's the signing with Brenna Whitmore's

company. The whole executive board is expecting—"

"The signing can wait." Marcus's face went cold as stone. "Whoever isn't at the hotel by nine

tomorrow morning is no longer a Ramirez. Am I understood?"

No one asked a second question.

The next morning, Lupita arrived at Brenna's apartment with a leather folder tucked under her arm,

heels clicking sharply against the hardwood.

"You look like hell," she said cheerfully, setting the folder on the counter. "Rough night?"

"Don't start." Brenna was already dressed for the signing, hair perfect, makeup covering the

exhaustion underneath. "Just get it done. I don't care what he asks for — give him nothing. Not one

cent, Lupita. I built that company from nothing."

"With pleasure." Lupita grinned. She'd been waiting years for this call. "I always said that man was

after your money the second he stopped working."

Brenna grabbed her bag. "I have to go. The Ramirez signing is in two hours." At the door she

paused, just long enough to add, "Make him sign today. I don't want this dragging on."

The door shut behind her. Lupita turned to find Adrian already standing in the living room, arms

crossed, watching her with an expression she couldn't quite read.

"Well," she said, sliding the papers across the table with a smirk. "Let's see how fast a broke man

signs away his marriage."

"I only want one thing," Adrian said evenly. "Full custody of Riley.That is my only condition"

Lupita blinked, caught off guard, then broke into delighted laughter. "That's it? No settlement? No

support?" She pushed the pen toward him, barely hiding her glee. "Sign right here, sweetheart.

Sign right here."

Adrian signed without a flicker of hesitation.

Lupita watched the ink dry, shaking her head like she genuinely pitied him. This was even better than she'd

hoped — Brenna wouldn't have to fight over a single asset, and she'd already promised Lupita a

substantial bonus for a clean, fast settlement. "You do know you

have no money now, right? No job, no support payments." She tapped the folder shut with a triumphant little smile. "I almost feel sorry for you.

Almost."

Adrian said nothing. He simply folded the papers, tucked them into his jacket, and checked the

time

— because Lupita had absolutely no idea what was coming for her. "Custody of

a child and not a cent to your name," she said. "Tell me, Adrian — how exactly do you plan on

raising her? On what money?"