Chapter 8 - THE TEST THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
Claire came to my father's temporary apartment at midnight.
She looked like she hadn't slept in days.
My father nearly refused to let her inside.
I stopped him.
“Let her talk.”
Claire sat across from me.
She was holding an envelope.
I recognized it.
“What's that?”
She stared at the envelope.
“The DNA test.”
I felt my chest tighten.
“Your baby?”
She nodded.
“And?”
She looked at me.
“The baby isn't Ethan's.”
The room became silent.
I didn't know what to say.
“Then why did you tell me he was the father?”
“I didn't.”
I stared at her.
“You told me you were pregnant.”
“Yes.”
“And Ethan was the father.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
She looked down.
“Ethan told you that.”
I froze.
“What?”
“He told you I was pregnant with his child.”
I remembered.
Ethan had stood in our kitchen three months earlier.
He had been pale.
He had said:
“Claire is pregnant.”
I had felt as though the floor disappeared.
He had looked at me.
“I made a mistake.”
I had asked if he loved her.
He had said no.
He had said it was over.
He had begged me not to leave.
I had believed him.
But Claire was shaking her head.
“I was pregnant.”
“With whom?”
She closed her eyes.
“My father's driver.”
I stared at her.
“Then why did Ethan claim the baby was his?”
“Because my father wanted him to.”
“Why?”
Claire looked at me.
“Because my father needed Ethan to marry you.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Why?”
She opened the envelope.
“Because the Carter-Wells Foundation is worth more than you know.”
Rebecca stepped closer.
“How much?”
“Nearly eighty million dollars.”
I stared at her.
My mother had built the foundation over decades.
I had known it was valuable.
I hadn't known it was that valuable.
Claire continued.
“Your mother created a voting trust.”
“I know.”
“Your husband couldn't control the foundation without you.”
“So he planned to make me believe he cheated.”
“Yes.”
“Why would that help?”
“Because if you divorced him, he could claim emotional instability.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“That wouldn't be enough.”
Claire looked at her.
“Not alone.”
She turned toward me.
“But Ethan had another plan.”
I felt cold.
“What plan?”
“Make you appear mentally unstable.”
I remembered every argument.
Every time Ethan had told me I was emotional.
Every time his mother had said pregnancy had changed me.
Every time his friends had laughed when I forgot something.
Every time Ethan had secretly recorded me crying.
I stared at Claire.
“He was building a case.”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“Guardianship.”
The word hit me like a punch.
My child.
My unborn son.
Ethan wanted custody.
If he could make me appear unstable, he could gain control of our child.
And through our child…
He could gain access to the foundation.
I stood up too quickly.
The room spun.
Noah caught my arm.
“Easy.”
I pulled away.
“I need air.”
I walked outside.
The night was cold.
Noah followed.
“You okay?”
“No.”
He stood beside me.
I looked at him.
“Why did you keep my ring?”
He looked down.
“Because you asked me to.”
“You could have given it to Ethan.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you?”
He was silent for a moment.
“Because he didn't deserve it yet.”
I looked at him.
“Do you think I was wrong to give it away?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because sometimes the only way to leave something behind is to put it in someone else's hands.”
I looked at him.
For the first time since the elevator, I smiled.
It was small.
But real.
Then my phone rang.
Rebecca.
“Amelia.”
Her voice was urgent.
“What happened?”
“Ethan filed an emergency motion.”
My stomach dropped.
“For what?”
“Temporary custody.”
I couldn't breathe.
“He can't.”
“He says you are emotionally unstable.”
I closed my eyes.
“Of course.”
Rebecca continued.
“There is more.”
“What?”
“He attached recordings.”
My blood turned cold.
“Recordings of what?”
“You screaming.”
I remembered.
The arguments.
The nights I had cried.
The moments I had begged Ethan to tell me the truth.
He had recorded them.
All of them.
Rebecca's voice became quiet.
“Amelia, he has been preparing this for months.”
I looked at the dark sky.
My child moved beneath my heart.
And suddenly, I understood.
The elevator had not been the beginning of Ethan's betrayal.
It had been the moment his plan failed.
Because he had expected me to be weak.
He had expected me to cry.
He had expected me to beg.
He had expected me to come home.
May you like
Instead, I had given my ring to a stranger.
And now I was going to take everything back.
