Chapter 4 - THE ARRIVAL AT THE DOOR
Ethan looked like a man standing on the edge of a collapsing cliff. He dropped the bankruptcy notices onto the floor, his eyes wide with absolute terror. "Clara... please. You have to help me. If these liens go through, the federal marshals will strip everything. My accounts are frozen. My credit is ruined. I'll go to prison!"
"And why should I care?" I asked, looking down at him with cold detachment. "You gave me until midnight to pack my clothes and walk out into the freezing snow while sick with a 104-degree fever. You didn't care where I slept tonight. Why should I care where you sleep tomorrow?"
Patricia rushed forward, grabbing my coat sleeve with claw-like fingers, her composure completely shattered. "Clara, listen to me! We are family! We can work this out! You can't just throw your husband—your loving husband—to the wolves!"
"Ex-husband," I corrected, pulling my sleeve firmly out of her grip. "And let's not forget, Patricia... you're the one who encouraged every single second of this."
Before Patricia could launch into another frantic round of screaming or begging, a sharp, piercing sound cut through the foyer.
It wasn't the bankruptcy officers. It wasn't the wind.
It was the unmistakable, high-pitched wail of an infant.
We all froze. The federal officers exchanged a brief, knowing glance, stepping aside as the heavy glass storm door swung open.
Standing on the porch, shivering in the cold autumn air, was a young woman I recognized instantly. Chloe Miller. Ethan’s junior marketing executive from downtown. And cradled tightly against her chest, wrapped in a blue designer blanket, was a baby no more than a few weeks old.
I expected Ethan to panic. I expected him to lunge toward the door and try to push Chloe back out into the snow before I could process what was happening.
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Instead, Patricia panicked first.
With a speed I had never seen from the older woman, Patricia lunged past Ethan, her face twisted in absolute horror, shrieking, "Get that bastard child away from this house! Don't you dare bring that scandal near my family!"
