Chapter 5 - The Ultrasound Weapon
The world seemed to pause.
Helen gasped in faux-shock, though the smug undercurrent in her eyes betrayed her. She had known. They had all known. This was their ace in the hole, the emotional silver bullet meant to shatter my resolve.
"Did you hear that, Eve?" Helen said, her voice instantly shifting from rage to sickening moral superiority. "She is carrying Julian’s child. Your niece or nephew! You would leave an expectant mother out on the street with nowhere to go? Have you no shame?"
I looked down at Rosalind, who was gazing up at me through tear-drenched lashes, expecting me to crumble. She believed that the sacred talisman of a baby would force me into servitude once more.
Slowly, I reached into my purse.
Rosalind’s eyes flared with hope, thinking I was reaching for my checkbook.
Instead, I pulled out a laminated manila folder containing medical records and tossed it into her lap. It slapped against her cashmere knees with a sharp crack.
"What... what is this?" Rosalind stammered.
"That is Julian’s medical file from Northwestern Memorial Hospital, dated three years ago," I said, my voice dropping to a glacial whisper. "Julian had a bilateral vasectomy after Maya was born. He didn't want any more children. The procedure was fully successful, confirmed with three follow-up zero-motility panels."
Rosalind’s face drained of every drop of color. Her jaw hung open.
"So," I continued, leaning down until my face was inches from hers, "either you are about to give birth to the Second Coming of Christ, Rosalind... or you've been sleeping with Julian's frat brother, Derek, the one you brought to my Fourth of July barbecue."
Helen stared at Rosalind in genuine horror. "Rosalind...? What is she talking about? Is it Julian's or not?!"
Rosalind scrambled backward on her hands and knees, clutching the folder, unable to utter a single syllable.
"Julian thinks it's his," I smiled thinly. "I made sure to let him believe that. He’s going to spend his time in federal detention dreaming about a family that doesn't exist, while you figure out how you're going to pay for prenatal care without an Amex black card."
"You're the devil," Rosalind whispered, trembling violently.
May you like
"No, sweetie," I said, stepping past her and heading down toward Victoria's waiting black town car. "I’m just the woman who pays the bills. Or rather... the woman who just canceled your subscription."
---
