Chapter 2 - The Mandated AmbushJulian’s aggressive legal team wasn't satisfied with merely filing for divorce; they wanted to utterly humiliate me. They filed a motion demanding a court-mandated dating ultrasound. Julian was absolutely, arrogantly convinced that the gestational age of the baby would align perfectly with a weekend he had spent in Miami for a "finance summit"—a trip I now knew he had taken with Sloane.
I sat in the sterile, brightly lit waiting room of the city’s most exclusive maternal-fetal medicine clinic. The air smelled of rubbing alcohol and expensive perfume. I wore a simple, elegant navy dress, my hands folded calmly in my lap. I had hired Harper Vance, the most ruthless, terrifying family law attorney in Chicago, but today, I was here alone. I didn't need a lawyer to translate a medical fact.
The heavy glass doors of the clinic swung open, and Julian swaggered in.
He looked like a man arriving at his own coronation. He was wearing a custom navy pinstripe suit, his hair perfectly coiffed, a smug, victorious smirk plastered across his handsome face. He wasn't alone. He was flanked by his aggressive bulldog of a lawyer, Preston, and his mother, Victoria, who looked at me as if I were a cockroach that had scurried across her shoe.
"Ready to face reality, Claire?" Julian mocked, his voice carrying through the quiet waiting room. He refused to sit on the same side of the aisle as me, choosing instead to stand by the receptionist's desk with his arms crossed. "Preston has the finalized settlement papers in his briefcase. Once the doctor gives us the conception date and proves you're a liar, you sign everything over to me. You walk away with nothing, and I won't press fraud charges. It’s a generous offer."
I didn't blink. I didn't cry. I looked directly into his cold, calculating eyes.
"I'm not signing anything, Julian," I said, my voice steady and completely devoid of fear.
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"Claire Kensington?" a nurse called out softly from the hallway.
I stood up, smoothing my dress, and walked toward the examination room. Julian, Preston, and Victoria immediately fell into step behind me, eager, ravenous spectators arriving to watch my execution.
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