Chapter 19 - The Final Word
Derek slowly lifted his head from his hands. He looked across the wide, dark expanse of the obsidian table, staring at me through the reflection of the glass walls. He looked pathetic, stripped of his bravado, his tailored suit suddenly looking too large for his shrinking frame.
"Lena, please," Derek begged, his voice cracking with genuine desperation. "Tell them to stop. We can fix this. I was stressed. I wasn't thinking straight. Don't destroy my life over a mistake."
I didn't lean forward. I didn't raise my voice. I simply rested both of my hands protectively over my belly, feeling my daughter kick against my palms.
"You told me to walk home in a blizzard, Derek," I said, my voice echoing in the dead silent room. "You told me to walk home. So I did. I just chose to build a home without you in it."
His face twisted in a mixture of agony and sudden, impotent rage. "I’m the father of your child! You can't just erase me!"
"Being a father gives you financial and moral responsibilities," I replied coldly. "It does not give you ownership over my body, my money, or my life."
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The two private investigators stepped forward. "Derek Grant, we have a court-ordered warrant to seize your cellular device and laptop for evidence of financial fraud."
When Derek stubbornly refused to hand over his phone, the investigators calmly produced a physical warrant signed by a federal judge. Vivian finally broke down, sobbing uncontrollably. She wasn't crying out of guilt for what she had done to me; she was weeping from the sheer, unimaginable horror of finally being seen clearly by the world.
