Chapter 2 - The Great Escape
The silence in the room was deafening.
Tyler fell to his knees, burying his face in his hands.
Madison dropped the balloons, the cheap mylar hitting the floor with a pathetic crinkle.
“You’re lying!” Madison shrieked, pointing a trembling finger at our father.
“Mom said the baby was mine!”
“Your mother is a delusional sociopath,” my father replied coldly.
I didn’t wait to hear another word.
I looked at the nurse, who was already nodding in silent understanding.
“I need to leave,” I told her.
“Right now.”
“I’ll get the discharge papers expedited,” the nurse whispered, slipping out the door.
Tyler lunged forward, trying to grab my arm.
“Please, baby, I did it for us!”
My father intercepted him, shoving Tyler hard against the cold hospital wall.
“Don’t you ever touch my daughter again,” my father growled.
I packed my small overnight bag with one hand, holding Rose securely in the other.
Madison was hyperventilating in the corner, realizing her twisted fantasy was crumbling.
“You can’t take Madison Grace!” she sobbed.
“Her name is Rose Evelyn Carter,” I said, looking my sister dead in the eye.
“And if you ever come near her again, I will have you arrested.”
My father escorted me down the hallway, acting as a human shield against my soon-to-be ex-husband and my unhinged sister.
We bypassed the lobby entirely, taking the service elevator to the underground parking garage.
As we reached his car, my phone began to vibrate incessantly.
It was my mother.
I blocked her number without a second thought.
“Where are we going?” I asked my father as I strapped Rose into the car seat he had thoughtfully installed.
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“To my lawyer’s house,” he said, starting the engine.
“We have a birth certificate to fix, and a restraining order to file.”
