Chapter 94
No.1
The black armored SUV slammed on its brakes in the ambulance bay of the Manhattan Private Hospital. The heavy tires screeched against the pavement.
Elisa kicked the door open before the vehicle fully stopped. She grabbed Kayden from Jewel's arms and sprinted through the sliding glass doors of the Emergency Room.
The trauma team Dr. Gottlieb had summoned was already waiting, a whirlwind of blue scrubs and focused urgency.
Nurses swarmed Elisa instantly. They ripped Kayden from her arms and placed the convulsing child onto a gurney. Elisa tried to follow them, but a male nurse placed a firm hand on her chest, physically shoving her backward.
"You have to stay here, Mom!" the nurse yelled over the chaos.
The heavy double doors of the trauma bay swung shut. The red light above the frame flared to life.
Elisa hit the wall. Her legs completely gave out.She slid down the cold, painted plaster until she hit the linoleum floor. She pulled her knees to her chest. Her hands were covered in Kayden's blood.Her fingers shook so violently she couldn't clasp them together.
Thirty agonizing minutes passed. Every second felt like a physical knife twisting in her gut.
No.2
Finally,the red light clicked off.
The lead attending physician pushed through the doors.He pulled down his surgical mask.
"She is stable," the doctor said, looking down at Elisa. "The fever broke after weadministered IV antipyretics. The head wound required twelve stitches, and she has a mild concussion. But her brain scans are clear. She is going to be fine."
Elisa let out a sound that was half-sob, half-scream. The suffocating weight on her chest instantly vanished. She placed her hands flat on the floor and pushed herself up.
"Can I see her?" Elisa gasped.
"We are moving her to the VIP pediatric wing for observation," the doctor replied gently. "My assistant will bring the admission papers directly to her suite for you to sign once you're settled in with her."
Elisa nodded frantically. She walked into the nearby public restroom. She turned on the faucet and scrubbed the dried blood off her hands with scalding hot water and harsh chemical soap until her skin was raw and red.
She took the elevator to the fourth floor.
No.3
The VIP pediatric wing was at the far end of a long,quiet corridor. The hallway was lined with massive,floor-to-ceiling glass walls, offering a clear view
into the ultra-luxurious recovery suites.
Elisa walked down the carpeted hall, her eyes fixed on the floor, her mind entirely focused on getting to Kayden.
As she passed suite 412, a flash of movement caught her peripheral vision.
Elisa's footsteps stopped. Her boots froze on the carpet.
The blinds on the glass wall of suite 412 were partially open.
Inside the room, Tate Mills was sitting in the center of a massive, adjustable hospital bed. He was holding a brand-new video game console, mashing the buttons aggressively. On his left forearm, the tiny cartoon band-aid had been replaced by a slightly larger, sterile white patch.
Kneeling on the floor beside the bed was August Chambers.
No.4
August, the man who had just tried to throw her best friend in jail. The man who had threatened to destroy her life.
He was holding a medical cotton swab. He dipped it into a bottle of antiseptic. With agonizing,meticulous gentleness, August dabbed the swab onto a microscopic scrape on Tate's knee. He blew softly on the skin to ease the sting.
Standing on the other side of the bed, Allena looked down at them. She had her hands clasped over her heart, a sickeningly sweet smile of
maternal pride plastered across her face.
They looked exactly like a perfect, loving family.
Elisa stood in the dim hallway. She stared through the glass.
A violent, uncontrollable montage flashed through her brain. Kayden's face covered in dark blood.Kayden's body convulsing on the hard wooden bench. Kayden screaming in terror.
Her daughter-August's actual flesh and blood-had nearly died tonight because of the boy sitting on that bed. And her husband was currently kneeling on the floor,playing the role of a doting father to the culprit, treating a scratch while his own child bled.
No.5
A strange sensation bloomed in Elisa's chest.
It wasn't anger. It wasn't sadness. It wasn't betrayal.It was a cold, absolute, desolate emptiness.2
A low, breathy laugh escaped her lips. She didn't shed a single tear. The seven years of pain,the desperate hope, the bitter resentment-it all instantly incinerated into gray ash.
Her heart turned into a solid block of black ice.
August Chambers was dead to her. He did not deserve to know he had a daughter. He did not deserve to breathe the same air as Kayden.
Elisa slowly turned her head away from the glass.She walked to the heavy metal door of the emergency stairwell and pushed it open.
The stairwell was freezing and smelled of dust.Elisa pulled her phone from her pocket. Her hand was no longer shaking. It was as steady as carved stone.
She dialed the encrypted line for Harvey Vance.
No.6
Harvey answered on the second ring. "Elisa. Are you safe?"
"I am fine," Elisa said. Her voice sounded like a machine. "Execute the seven-year clause. I want the final divorce decree finalized immediately."
Harvey hesitated. "Elisa, if we drop the formal papers now, Chambers Legal will instantly retaliate.They will freeze assets. They will drag this into a brutal,multi-year litigation."
"I don't care," Elisa stated coldly. "I am done playing games with this man. I want the legal severing of this marriage on paper,today."
"Understood," Harvey sighed. "I will have my assistant bring the physical documents to your location."
"Do it," Elisa ordered.
She hung up the phone. She stood in the stairwell for exactly five minutes. She let the freezing air chilI her skin. She allowed the last remnants of Elisa Chambers to die in the dark, leaving only Faye behind.
She pushed the stairwell door open and walked back into the hallway.
No.7
An hour later, a young man in a sharp suit hurried
down the hall. He handed Elisa a thick manila envelope sealed with the Vance Law Firm crest.
Elisa gripped the envelope. She turned and walked directly toward suite 412. It was time to end the farce.