Chapter 5 - The Glass House Shatters
"Oh, I'm perfectly well," I interrupted, dropping a thick manila envelope onto the pristine white aisle runner. "I just came to return your ring, and to deliver your eviction notice."
Victoria stood up, her face flushed with fury and humiliation. "Lauren, you are ruining everything! Have some dignity and leave!"
"Dignity, Victoria?" I asked, looking down at my mother-in-law. "Dignity is not living rent-free in a house owned by your daughter-in-law while helping your son plan bigamy. By the way, the locks have been changed. Your bags are on the front lawn in the rain."
Avery let out a shrill sob, covering her face.
The bride, wearing a stunning white gown, finally appeared at the back of the aisle, freezing as she took in the scene. She looked at my pregnant belly, then at Grayson's terrified face, the reality dawning on her in real-time.
"He told me you were separated!" the bride screamed, tears ruining her makeup as she stared at Grayson. "He said the divorce was finalized a year ago!"
"He lied to both of us," I told her gently. I turned my attention back to the man I had trusted like the floor beneath my feet. "My lawyer froze the firm's operating accounts twenty minutes ago, Grayson. I’m calling in the loan. You are bankrupt. You are homeless. And you will never, ever be alone with my children again."
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Grayson fell to his knees. Literally dropped to the floor, burying his face in his hands, weeping openly as the life he had so carefully compartmentalized collapsed into total, irreparable ruin.
I didn't stay to watch him beg. I turned my back on the silent, stunned crowd and walked back out through the glass doors, into the cold October rain, ready to return to the hospital and build a new, unbreakable floor for my children.
