Chapter 8 - A Mother's Deception
The hallway fell into a stunned, breathless silence. Frank Vance looked back and forth between Evelyn and me, his professional arrogance crumbling into visible nervousness.
"What is that tape, Evelyn?" Frank asked, his voice wavering. "You told me the Miller family had no surviving documentation!"
"Shut up, Frank!" Evelyn hissed, her voice cracking with desperation. She glared at me, her fingers twitching over her designer handbag. "That tape is a fake! It's an illegal digital edit created by that wretched girl to slander me!"
Richard Sterling stepped forward, pulling his legal credentials from his jacket. "I am Richard Sterling, senior partner at Sterling & Croft. I can assure you, Mr. Vance, that these audio tapes, along with thirty years of bank ledger records, are genuine. If you file that fraudulent CPS petition based on Evelyn's false statements, I will personally see to it that you are disbarred, sued for malicious prosecution, and indicted as a co-conspirator in federal financial fraud."
Frank Vance's face turned white. Without saying another word to Evelyn, he closed his folder, turned on his heel, and hurried toward the exit elevators.
"Frank! Come back here, you coward!" Evelyn screamed after him.
"It's over, Evelyn," I said, stepping closer to her. "You lost."
"You ungrateful little brat!" Evelyn shrieked, dropping all pretense of elegance. Her eyes flared with unhinged rage as she lunged toward me, trying to grab the phone out of my hand. "I built this family! I saved your father from ruin! Everything I did, I did to protect our name!"
"No," Clara spoke up, stepping out from behind Richard. "You did it for yourself, Mom. You destroyed Dad. You tried to destroy my life. And now you tried to destroy Mark and Anna. You are sick."
Evelyn stared at Clara, shocked by her daughter's defiance. "Clara... not you too... after everything I gave you?"
"You gave us trauma, mother," Clara said coldly. "And today, it stops."
At that moment, the door to Room 304 opened. The doctor, dressed in scrubs, stepped into the hallway. "Mark Vance?"
"Yes! How is my wife?" I asked urgently.
"She's fully dilated and ready to push," the doctor said. "She's asking for you. Now."
I gave Evelyn one last, icy look. "If you are still in this hospital when my daughter is born, I will have the police arrest you on the spot for trespassing and harassment. Choose your next move wisely."
I turned and walked into Room 304, slamming the heavy wooden door behind me, shutting Evelyn out in the cold corridor.
Inside, Anna was lying on the delivery bed, sweat glistening on her forehead, her face contorted in effort. She looked up at me, her dark eyes filled with fierce determination.
"Is it... is it done?" she gasped, reaching out her hand.
May you like
I grabbed her hand tightly, kissing her trembling knuckles. "It's done, my love. She can't touch us anymore. Now focus on our baby."
Anna squeezed my hand with incredible strength as the nurse instructed her to push. Outside the door, we could hear the faint sound of security guards escorting a screaming Evelyn Vance off the hospital floor. But inside the room, all that mattered was the miraculous life fighting to enter the world.
