Chapter 14 - The Final Bargain
"Clara! Clara, please, don't hang up!" Marcus’s voice sounded shattered, hoarse, stripped of every ounce of the smug arrogance he had displayed in their hallway. He sounded like a man drowning in sixty feet of dark water.
"I’m here, Marcus," Clara said, her tone cold and perfectly even.
"They have Mom in a holding cell, Clara. They won't let me see her. They’re talking about felony charges. If she gets convicted, she will die in prison. Please... David knows the district attorney. You have to tell them it was a misunderstanding. Tell them you panicked."
Clara leaned back in her leather chair, watching the sunrise begin to cast pink and orange hues across the city skyline outside the high-rise window.
"A misunderstanding, Marcus? Your mother rammed my car at sixty miles an hour while your three-week-old daughter was strapped in the back seat."
"She didn't mean to! She was trying to get you to stop! She thought you were taking Lily away forever!"
"Penny already confessed, Marcus," Clara interrupted, cutting through his frantic babble. "She gave the state troopers the account numbers. The roadster was sold in February. The offshore account in the Caymans is in your mother’s maiden name. You drained our baby's medical savings to fund your mother’s vacation fund."
The silence on the line was total. Clara could hear Marcus’s ragged breathing, followed by the distant background chatter of police radios and crying suspects in the precinct lobby.
"What... what did you say?" Marcus croaked.
"You were her pawn, Marcus. You ruined your career, you destroyed your marriage, and you nearly murdered your daughter on Highway 9—all for a mother who saw you as nothing more than an ATM with an MD attached to your name."
"Clara... no. That’s... that’s not true. She wouldn't—"
"I am filing for sole legal and physical custody of Lily this morning," Clara continued remorselessly. "I am filing for an immediate dissolution of marriage on the grounds of domestic abuse, gross financial misconduct, and child endangerment. The house belongs to me. If you ever set foot within five hundred feet of my daughter again, you will be arrested on sight."
"Clara, please! I love you! I love Lily! I didn't know!" Marcus was weeping now, openly sobbing into the receiver like a broken child. "Don't take everything from me!"
"You gave it away yourself," Clara said softly.
May you like
She hung up the receiver and pushed the phone away. David handed her a clean pen and the stack of divorce petitions already printed and stamped with her legal name.
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