Chapter Seventeen – Caleb Strikes Back
The envelope was thick, expensive, and so crisp it looked like it had been ironed. Catherine found it wedged under her apartment door when she returned from another draining hospital appointment. Her name was printed on the front in a serif font that felt like a threat all on its own.
She knew it was from him before she even opened it.
Inside: a cease-and-desist letter. Pages and pages of legal threats, accusations, and Caleb’s lawyer insisting she “immediately discontinue her defamatory investigation into Mr. Caleb Rowan.”
Her hands shook as she read the final line:
Further legal action will be pursued, including financial penalties and potential criminal charges.
Criminal.
He wanted to make her the villain.
Her phone buzzed before she could even sit down. Notifications flooded the screen like a digital avalanche—tags, comments, reposts.
@CalebR_Official: My wife has been struggling mentally for months. Please keep her in your prayers. Harassment is never okay—even when it comes from someone you love.
The post had been up for three minutes and already had four thousand likes.
Catherine’s throat tightened.
He wasn’t just retaliating.
He was rewriting the narrative.
Another notification.
This one from her bank.
ALERT: Your joint account access has been temporarily suspended.
She blinked, reread it, felt her stomach drop.
He was cutting off her money.
He was cutting off everything.
Catherine sat down at the kitchen table, feeling the weight of the silence settle around her like smoke. She opened her laptop with trembling fingers.
The internet was already turning on her.
Anonymous comments:
“She was always unstable.”
“He deserves better.”
“Did anyone else hear she cheated first?”
“I heard she blackmailed him.”
“Crazy wife vibes.”
A sharp, bitter laugh slipped out of her.
Of course. Caleb didn’t need to shout to destroy her. Whisper campaigns were his favorite weapon.
Her phone lit up again—this time a text from an unknown number.
You really thought you could win?
—C
Her pulse thudded in her ears.
He wasn’t hiding anymore.
He wanted her to know exactly how powerful he was.
And for a moment—just a moment—it worked.
Fear crawled up her spine like a cold hand.
But then she remembered Marcus’s folder.
The photos on Caleb’s computer.
The medical report she hadn’t asked for.
The lies.
The humiliation.
The sickness she was left to deal with alone.
Catherine wiped her face with the back of her hand and straightened.
He could take her money.
He could smear her name.
He could send lawyers, threats, strangers with pitchforks and poisoned hashtags.
But he couldn’t stop the truth anymore.
She picked up her phone and typed a message to Marcus:
He knows. He’s starting a war.
Meet tomorrow?
The reply came instantly.
Already ready. Just say when.
Catherine exhaled slowly, steadying herself.
Caleb thought he could break her by closing every door.
He didn’t realize she had already found a window to crawl through—sharp edges and all.
And she wasn’t done fighting.