Chapter 8 - The Settlement Offer
The next afternoon, a courier delivered a thick, wax-sealed envelope to Harrison’s office.
It was a formal settlement offer from Julian’s high-priced legal team.
I sat in the leather chair across from Harrison's desk as he read the document aloud.
Julian was offering me a one-time payment of two million dollars to walk away quietly.
The catch was that I had to sign a massive non-disclosure agreement and legally admit to infidelity.
He also demanded that I give the baby up for closed adoption immediately after birth.
He wanted all evidence of my existence and his "shame" permanently erased from the world.
"Two million dollars to sell my soul and my child," I scoffed, throwing the document onto the desk.
"He thinks everyone has a price tag because he bought his way through life," Harrison said in disgust.
"Reject it. Tell them I will see them in court on Friday."
"Are you absolutely sure, Evelyn?" Harrison asked, looking at me with deep concern.
"If we go to court and the judge doesn't accept the digital evidence, you could walk away with nothing."
"I am not fighting for his dirty money anymore," I stated, placing a protective hand over my belly.
"I am fighting for my daughter's right to exist without carrying the label of a bastard child."
Harrison nodded proudly and drafted a single-sentence response to Julian's powerful lawyers.
The settlement is rejected in full.
Within an hour of sending the rejection, the retaliation began.
Julian used his connections to get my parents' small business loan suddenly called in by their bank.
He was actively trying to ruin my family to force me into submission.
I called my father, weeping as I apologized for the destruction raining down on them.
"Do not apologize, Evelyn," my father said fiercely over the phone.
"You fight that monster with everything you have, and you do not back down for a second."
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I wiped my tears, feeling a massive surge of strength.
The war was officially on.
