Chapter 5 - The Snake in the Cell
The Manhattan Detention Center was a cold, concrete fortress echoing with the sound of slamming iron gates and distant shouting.
Julian Han sat on a steel stool behind the scratched bulletproof glass of the visitor’s booth, wearing an oversized orange jumpsuit. His thick hair was messy, his eyes bloodshot, and his hands were locked in heavy steel handcuffs attached to a waist chain.
On the other side of the glass sat my mother.
She wore a simple, elegant dark suit that I had bought for her three days ago. Her posture was straight, her chin lifted high, her eyes devoid of the fear that had defined her life for five years.
Julian slammed his cuffed hands against the glass, his face contorting into a pathetic mask of desperation.
"Mother-in-law! Mother-in-law, please!" Julian cried through the small mesh speaker. "You have to help me! Mabel won't answer my calls! Her lawyer blocked my public defender from visiting her!"
Mrs. Chen looked at the man who had ordered her daughter to carry his mother up a mountain.
"I am not your mother-in-law, Julian," my mother said, her voice smooth, calm, and terrifyingly cold. "The divorce was finalized by the court two hours ago under the emergency spousal abuse statute."
Julian froze, his mouth hanging open. "Divorce?! No... no! She can't do that! We have a joint enterprise trust! If she divorces me, the Han family loses the controlling shares of the shipping docks!"
"You've already lost them, Julian," my mother said, reaching into her purse and pressing a newspaper clipping against the glass.
The front-page headline of the Financial Daily read:
MABEL CHEN NAMED CHAIRWOMAN OF HAN ENTERPRISE GROUP; BOARD VOTES UNANIMOUSLY TO OUST IMPRISONED CEO JULIAN HAN.
Julian’s eyes scanned the headline, his breathing becoming ragged and shallow. "No... no, no, no! That’s my company! My father built that company!"
"Your father built it with my late husband’s capital," my mother replied coldly. "And now it has returned to his daughter."
"Please..." Julian wept, pressing his face against the scratched glass, tears streaming down his nose. "Tell Mabel I love her! I’ll sign whatever she wants! I'll give her full custody of the child! Just ask her to drop the criminal attempted murder charges! The inmates in here... they know what I did to a pregnant woman! They beat me every night in the shower, Mother! Look at my ribs!"
Julian pulled up his orange shirt, revealing deep, dark purple bruises covering his torso.
My mother looked at the bruises. She didn't flinch. She didn't show a single drop of pity.
She remembered the sight of my blood dripping down the gray slate steps of Mount Jing. She remembered the sound of my bones cracking under his boot.
"You told my daughter that pain was just an inconvenience, Julian," my mother whispered, leaning close to the glass speaker. "Now, you can enjoy your inconvenience for the next twenty-five years."
May you like
My mother stood up, adjusted her coat, and walked toward the exit door without turning back once.
"Mother-in-law! MOTHER-IN-LAW!" Julian screamed, beating his head against the glass until the prison guards grabbed him by his arms, forcing him back down onto the floor.
