Chapter 3
The room was almost unnaturally quiet.
The only sounds were the soft hiss of the ventilator and the steady rhythm of the cardiac monitor.
Beep...
Beep...
Beep...
Leah sat beside Skylar's bed, gently rubbing strawberry lotion onto her daughter's dry fingers. Captain Bun rested beneath the duck-pattern blanket, tucked securely against Skylar's side exactly where she always wanted him.
Outside the large hospital window, Baltimore's afternoon traffic continued as though nothing extraordinary was happening.
Inside Room 417...
...everything was about to change forever.
The door opened without a knock.
Leah looked up.
Derek entered first, dressed in the same expensive navy suit he always wore to court hearings and business meetings.
Naomi followed, one hand resting protectively on her noticeably pregnant stomach.
She wore a cream maternity dress and enough jewelry to catch every beam of sunlight entering the room.
Leah immediately stood.
Her first thought wasn't anger.
It was hope.
Maybe they'd come because they finally wanted to see Skylar.
Maybe Derek had remembered he was still a father.
Maybe—
"How is she?"
Derek asked.
The question sounded rehearsed.
Polite.
Empty.
Dr. Aris Bennett glanced up from Skylar's chart.
"She's stable, but she's still in critical condition."
Derek nodded once.
No emotion crossed his face.
No relief.
No sadness.
Just acknowledgment.
Like someone reviewing a quarterly business report.
Leah noticed Naomi wasn't looking at Skylar either.
Her eyes wandered around the room until they settled on the leather folder lying beside Leah's backpack.
"What is that?"
Leah frowned.
"My divorce paperwork."
Naomi exchanged a quick glance with Derek.
It lasted less than a second.
But Leah saw it.
Something passed silently between them.
Not grief.
Expectation.
After Dr. Bennett stepped into the hallway to speak with another physician, Derek quietly closed the hospital room door.
The click of the lock sounded strangely loud.
Leah's stomach tightened.
"What are you doing?"
"I wanted some privacy."
"For what?"
He walked toward the window.
Naomi remained beside him.
Neither came near Skylar.
Neither even looked at her.
Instead Derek folded his arms.
"I've been speaking with my attorney."
Leah stared.
"...Okay."
"I think we should settle everything before the divorce becomes expensive."
Leah laughed bitterly.
"You picked an interesting place to negotiate."
He ignored the comment.
"We should divide the assets fairly."
"We already agreed on that."
"Not everything."
He paused.
"The trust."
Leah blinked.
"What trust?"
"Skylar's."
Every muscle in Leah's body stiffened.
For several seconds she honestly wondered whether she'd heard him correctly.
"My father's trust?"
"Yes."
Leah shook her head slowly.
"It isn't ours."
"I know."
"It legally belongs to Skylar."
"I know."
"So why are we discussing it?"
Derek looked almost amused.
"Because circumstances have changed."
Leah felt a chill crawl down her spine.
"What circumstances?"
Naomi answered this time.
"Our baby."
Leah stared at her sister.
"What about your baby?"
Naomi gently rubbed her stomach.
"We're going to have a son."
No one spoke.
Then Derek delivered the sentence that would haunt Leah for the rest of her life.
He pointed casually toward Naomi's belly.
Then toward the unconscious little girl lying in the hospital bed.
"Skylar had a good run."
Leah's entire body went numb.
She couldn't believe those words had come from the father who used to build blanket forts with his daughter.
Before she could respond—
He continued.
"We need that money for my son with your sister."
Silence.
Complete.
Absolute.
The cardiac monitor continued beeping.
Skylar remained motionless.
Captain Bun rested against her tiny arm.
Leah looked from her unconscious daughter...
...to the man she'd once trusted with her life.
Then to her own sister.
Naomi didn't object.
She didn't tell Derek to stop.
She simply stood there...
...waiting.
Waiting for Leah to agree.
Waiting for a dying little girl's inheritance to become her unborn child's future.
Something inside Leah finally broke.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
Quietly.
Completely.
She stepped forward.
CRACK!
Her palm struck Derek's face with every ounce of grief, betrayal, exhaustion, and fury she had carried for months.
His head snapped sideways.
The room froze.
Naomi gasped.
A bright red mark spread across Derek's cheek.
He slowly turned back toward Leah, stunned.
Before he could speak—
Leah looked him straight in the eyes.
Her voice was calm.
Cold.
Certain.
"You're done."
She reached into the pocket of her coffee-stained hoodie.
Pulled out her phone.
And dialed a number she hadn't used in nearly eight years.
The call connected after a single ring.
A calm, familiar voice answered.
"Harrison Gonzales."
Leah never took her eyes off Derek.
"You once told me..."
Her voice no longer trembled.
"...to call if Derek ever tried to touch Skylar's trust."
There was a brief silence.
Then Harrison spoke.
"I'm on my way."
Leah ended the call.
Derek laughed.
A nervous laugh.
"You're really calling an old trustee?"
Leah said nothing.
She simply returned to Skylar's bedside.
Took her daughter's hand.
And waited.
Twenty minutes later...
The oncology room door opened once more.
A silver-haired man carrying a worn leather briefcase stepped inside.
He didn't greet Derek.
He didn't acknowledge Naomi.
He walked directly to Skylar.
Rested one gentle hand on Captain Bun.
Then slowly turned toward Derek.
For the first time since entering the room...
...Harrison Gonzales smiled.
May you like
It wasn't a friendly smile.
It was the smile of a man who already knew exactly how this story was going to end.
