Chapter 4 - The House of Cards Collapses
"Savannah, have you lost your mind?" Ethan hissed, his voice trembling as he aggressively shoved the envelope away. He looked desperately at his bosses. "Richard, I swear, my wife has been dealing with severe mental health issues due to her infertility. She's delusional."
"Am I?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. I reached into my clutch one final time. I pulled out a perfectly crisp, 8x10 glossy print of a DNA test I had secretly facilitated by swabbing Ethan's toothbrush and comparing it to a pacifier I had taken from Natalie's apartment.
I slid the DNA results directly across the table to the senior partners. Richard picked it up, reading the 99.9% probability of paternity.
"You slept with your wife's sister?" Richard asked, his voice dripping with absolute disgust. "And you committed financial fraud to hide it?"
"She's lying!" Natalie shrieked, standing up. "She's just a bitter, barren woman who is jealous that I gave Ethan the family he actually wanted!"
My mother finally found her voice, standing up to protect her favorite daughter. "Savannah, how could you do this in public? You are ruining Ethan's career! You are destroying Natalie's life! You have no idea what it means to be a mother!"
I looked at the three of them—the people who were supposed to love me, who had conspired to bleed me dry and throw me away. The rage I had harbored for months finally crystallized into absolute power.
"You're right, Mom," I said, my voice echoing loudly off the mahogany walls. "I didn't know what it meant to be a mother. But I'm learning."
I took a deliberate step back, unbuttoning the oversized, double-breasted blazer I was wearing. The heavy fabric fell open, revealing a tight, fitted black maternity dress underneath. The undeniable, prominent curve of my six-month pregnant belly was finally on full display.
The color completely drained from Ethan's face. He looked like he had been struck by lightning. His eyes dropped to my stomach, then shot up to my face, his mouth opening and closing like a suffocating fish.
"You're... you're pregnant?" Ethan whispered, the reality of what he had thrown away violently crashing down on him.
"I'm having a daughter," I said, placing my hand protectively over my stomach. "I found out the exact same day you and Natalie were laughing in the hospital about how broken my body was. The same day you talked about divorcing me once your salary tripled."
Natalie collapsed into her chair, sobbing hysterically as she realized her golden ticket was gone. My mother stared at my stomach in horror, realizing she had just been permanently cut off from her only grandchild that actually came with a trust fund.
Richard stood up, tossing his napkin onto the table. He looked at Ethan with utter contempt. "Ethan, the partners value integrity. You are a fraud, a liar, and a liability. Do not come into the office on Monday. Security will pack your desk. We are officially terminating your employment, and we will be fully cooperating with the district attorney's investigation into your financial crimes."
Richard tipped his hat to me, disgust masking his face as he looked at the rest of my family, and walked out of the room.
Ethan dropped to his knees right there on the restaurant floor. The arrogant, untouchable lawyer was gone, replaced by a broken, desperate man. "Savannah, please," he begged, tears streaming down his face. "Please, it's my baby. You can't do this. I'll leave Natalie. I'll do anything. I want to be a father to our child."
I looked down at him, feeling absolutely nothing but cold, clinical pity.
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"You already are a father, Ethan," I said quietly, turning on my heel. "Go take care of your son. Because you will never, ever see my daughter."
I walked out of the restaurant, leaving them drowning in the ashes of the fire they had started.
