Chapter 5 - Labor and Lies
The stress of the gala took its toll. As Victor was dragged out screaming, a sharp, white-hot pain ripped through my abdomen. I gasped, dropping the microphone.
“Maya!” Victoria was at my side in a millisecond.
My water had broken.
The estate went into high gear. I was airlifted by the private Thorne helicopter to the VIP wing of the city's best hospital. The pain was blinding, a terrifying echo of the loss of control I used to feel.
“Breathe, Maya. I am right here. I will not leave you,” Victoria promised, holding my hand as the doctors rushed in.
But Victor wasn't done. Having been humiliated publicly, he played his final, desperate card. He rushed to the hospital with his sleazy lawyer, brandishing a hastily signed court order demanding access to the delivery room as the biological father.
“You can’t keep me out!” Victor yelled at the security guards blocking the maternity ward. “I have rights!”
Inside the delivery room, I was pushing, sweat pouring down my face. “Don't let him in,” I sobbed. “Please.”
“He will not cross that threshold,” Victoria vowed.
Outside, Marcus didn't even blink. He looked at Victor's lawyer. “That document is a temporary injunction from a lower court. Our legal team has already filed an emergency stay with the Supreme Court. It takes effect in... three seconds.” Marcus checked his watch. “You have no jurisdiction here. Leave, or I will break your legs.”
With one final, earth-shattering push, the sound of a baby’s cry filled the room.
“It’s a girl,” the doctor smiled, placing the tiny, perfect infant on my chest.
I looked down at her. She had a mop of dark hair and, as she opened her eyes, I saw flashes of familiar, brilliant emerald green.
May you like
“Welcome to the world, little one,” Victoria wept, kissing my forehead.
Victor was gone. But the real war for my daughter was just beginning.
