Chapter 10 - The Uninvited Guest
I stood in the doorway for three agonizing seconds, weighing the heavy, bitter history between us against the shivering woman curled up on my floor.
The old Elina—the one who carried everyone else's burdens while apologizing for existing—would have slammed the door, locked it, and told herself it wasn't her problem.
I reached down, grabbed Jessica by under her arms, and hauled her up onto her feet, guiding her past the threshold and straight into the warmth of my living room.
"Sit on the couch," I instructed, my voice firm but stripped of its previous venom. I walked to the kitchen, poured a mug of warm chamomile tea, and brought it back to her.
Jessica took the mug with trembling hands, blowing softly across the surface. "Why are you helping me? After everything I said to you yesterday... after the things Lucas did?"
"I'm not helping Lucas," I said, sitting down in the armchair across from her. "And I'm not doing it for the family. But a child shouldn't pay for the sins of a thief."
She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater, taking a slow sip of the tea. "Harrison told my parents about the mortgage fraud. Your father had a panic attack at the precinct three hours ago. They took him to St. Mary’s Hospital in an ambulance."
The news hung in the air between us. A cold pang of complex grief brushed against my chest—not for the man who had stolen my car and forged my signature, but for the broken illusion of a father I had spent my whole life trying to please.
"Is he going to be okay?" I asked softly.
"The doctors say it's mild," Jessica answered, looking down at her hands. "But the estate is gone, Elina. Between the legal fees, the bail denial, and the bank freezing the accounts after your forensic audit, your parents are facing bankruptcy. They lost everything."
May you like
Before I could process the massive tectonic shift of that revelation, a sudden, sharp intake of breath escaped Jessica’s lips. She dropped her mug—it shattered against the hardwood floor, spilling dark tea across the rug—and gripped both sides of her stomach, doubling over in sudden, agonizing pain.
"Elina..." she gasped, her eyes flying wide with sheer terror. "The water just broke. The baby is coming right now."
