Chapter 6 - The Ultimatum
Ryan looked down at the envelope in his hands. The blood drained from his face for the second time in twenty-four hours, but this time, it wasn't replaced by sorrow or embarrassment.
It was replaced by pure, cornered malice.
He didn't bother apologizing. He didn't try to deny it. He tossed the envelope onto the desk behind him, crossed his arms over his chest, and leaned his weight against the doorframe, physically blocking the only exit from the room.
""You went through my private safe,"" he said, his voice dropping into a low, menacing register that sent a shiver of terror down my spine.
""That's your response?"" I gasped, incredulous. ""You traded our child's dignity for a dead man's money, and your only defense is that I opened your safe?!""
""That money belongs to me, Maya!"" he snapped, taking a sudden step forward, invading my personal space until I was forced backward against the bookshelf. ""Do you have any idea what my life was like growing up? My mother cleaning toilets, clipping coupons, dressing me in thrift store rags while my bastard father lived in a gated estate in Florida with private jets and luxury yachts? He owed me that money! He owed me thirty years of child support, thirty years of dignity, thirty years of a real life!""
""And what does that have to do with our baby?"" I shouted, tears of pure rage burning my cheeks. ""She is an innocent child! She didn't abandon you! She didn't write that sick trust!""
""She cost me four million dollars!"" Ryan roared, slamming his open palm against the wooden desk so hard the monitor rattled. ""Do you realize what that money would have done for us? We would never have had to work another day in our lives. We could have bought the beach house in Hilton Head. We could have lived like royalty! And you stood there smiling because you got your little pink fairy tale!""
I looked at him, completely disgusted. The handsome, charming corporate account manager was entirely gone. Standing before me was an obsessive, greedy hollow shell of a man whose trauma had warped into sheer cruelty.
""I am leaving you, Ryan,"" I said firmly, clutching my purse to my chest. ""I am filing for divorce this morning. I will raise this little girl without a single dollar from you or your sick family trust. Move out of my way.""
Ryan didn't move. A sinister, twisted smile began to spread slowly across his lips.
""You think you're going to walk away with my kid?"" he chuckled, a dry, humorless sound. ""Listen to me very carefully, Maya. You aren't leaving.""
""Excuse me?""
""You're going to stay right here,"" Ryan whispered, leaning in so close I could smell the sweat and coffee on his breath. ""You're going to carry this girl to term. And the second she's born, we are going to try again. Immediately. We are going to use gender-selection IVF. Dr. Sterling's trust allows for any legitimate male heir born within the ten-year window. We still have six years left. You give me a boy, we cash the trust, and then you can have whatever divorce settlement you want.""
I stared at him in utter disbelief. ""You are completely insane. I will never let you touch me again. Let me out of this room right now or I will scream loud enough to wake the entire neighborhood.""
Ryan chuckled again, pulling his phone from his gym shorts. ""Go ahead and scream. Let the neighbors call the police. Who do you think they'll believe? The successful corporate director whose emotionally unstable, pregnant wife broke into his private business files and threw a violent tantrum because she had postpartum psychosis early? I already documented your erratic behavior yesterday, Maya. Sarah and Mark saw you scream at me on the patio. I have thirty witnesses who saw you throw your wedding ring into the dirt.""
He tapped the screen of his phone, showing me an email draft addressed to his high-powered corporate attorney.
""If you walk out that door,"" Ryan whispered, his eyes cold as flint, ""I will hire the most ruthless custody lawyer in the state of Ohio. I will use the funds from my personal savings to bury you in court motions until you are bankrupt. I will claim you are mentally unfit to be a mother. I will take full custody of that baby girl the second she takes her first breath, and you will never see her again unless it's through a glass partition at a supervised visitation center.""
My heart plummeted into my stomach. The air in the room became thin, unbreathable. He had planned this. The moment he realized the baby was a girl, his corporate, calculating brain had already begun constructing the legal cage to trap me.
May you like
""You wouldn't,"" I choked out, my voice finally betraying my sheer terror.
""Try me,"" Ryan sneered. ""Now sit down on that couch, shut your mouth, and wait until I tell you what we're doing next.""
