Chương 5
“Before.”
I closed my eyes.
The words returned slowly.
You don’t understand what’s already in motion.
At the time, I had thought he meant wedding plans.
I opened my eyes.
Jonathan had become very still.
“What?”
“He said something was already in motion.”
My phone rang.
Special Agent Reeves.
I answered.
His voice was different this time.
Less measured.
“Claire, is Jonathan Bell with you?”
“Yes.”
“Put me on speaker.”
I did.
Reeves said, “We traced part of the bridge-loan proceeds.”
Jonathan opened his laptop again.
“Where?”
“Four-point-two million went to satisfy obligations connected to a real-estate development entity.”
I waited.
Reeves continued.
“The entity is controlled by Ethan Morgan.”
Maya sat down slowly.
“What obligations?”
“Short-term debt, investor repayments, and a personal guarantee.”
My brother had not been stealing my apartment because Chloe wanted a better view.
He had been using it to plug a hole in something already collapsing.
“How bad?” I asked.
“Bad enough that the lender was preparing legal action.”
Jonathan said, “And the remaining money?”
“We traced another nine hundred thousand to wedding-related vendors and personal accounts.”
A sound escaped me.
Not a laugh.
Not quite.
Maya looked at the orchids on the windowsill.
“Nine hundred thousand?”
Reeves said, “There are still funds we haven’t located.”
I pictured the rehearsal dinner I had been arranging.
The custom flowers.
The private dining room.
The ridiculous imported candles Chloe had apologized for ordering because they cost more than my first car.
Ethan had complained about prices while spending stolen money.
“What happens now?”
“We’re seeking warrants.”
“For Ethan?”
“I can’t discuss operational details.”
“That means yes.”
Jonathan rubbed his forehead.
I said, “The wedding is tomorrow.”
No one answered.
The absurdity of the sentence sat there among medical equipment and federal fraud documents.
Then Dr. Patel entered.
She glanced at the monitor and immediately stopped.
Her eyes narrowed.
“What changed?”
My body answered before I could.
A contraction seized me harder than the others.
I grabbed Maya’s hand.
Dr. Patel moved toward the bed.
“Claire, look at me.”
I tried.
The monitor alarm began.
A nurse came in quickly.
Then another.
“What’s happening?”
Dr. Patel watched the fetal tracing.
“The baby’s heart rate dipped.”
My mouth went dry.
“Is she okay?”
“It’s recovering.”
The alarm stopped.
Nobody relaxed.
Dr. Patel checked me again.
When she stood, her expression had changed.
“You’re progressing.”
“How much?”
“Enough that I don’t think we’re stopping this.”
Maya tightened her grip on my hand.
I stared at Dr. Patel.
“Today?”
“Yes.”
Outside the room, a cart rattled past and somebody laughed at something down the hall.
Inside, Jonathan quietly closed his laptop.
My phone remained on speaker.
Reeves finally said, “Ms. Morgan, we can handle this from here.”
I looked at Ethan’s email still lying on my blanket.
Just trying to make sure the baby is protected if anything happens to Claire.
I picked up the page and folded it once.
“No,” I said.
My voice shook, but the decision didn’t.
“You can handle the investigation.”
Another contraction began building.
“I’m going to make sure my brother never gets to decide what happens to my daughter.”
Dr. Patel did not ask what I meant.
She was already giving instructions to the nurses.
“Let’s move her to labor and delivery.”
Maya stood and gathered my phone, Jonathan’s folder, the ridiculous orchids, and somehow the half-empty bottle of water as if leaving any of them behind would be a moral failure.
Jonathan stayed beside the bed while the nurse disconnected one monitor and attached another portable one.
“I’ll take care of the legal documents,” he said.
“No.”
He paused.
“I want copies of everything.”
“You’ll have them.”
“And change my estate plan today.”
“Claire.”
“Today.”
“You’re in labor.”
“That’s why I’m asking.”
Jonathan looked at Dr. Patel as though she might rescue him.
She did not.
“I can send revised documents electronically,” he said.
“Good.”
“We still need to discuss what you want changed.”
“Ethan gets nothing.”
Jonathan’s expression remained neutral, but Maya stopped moving.
I continued before either of them could soften it.
“My parents get nothing they can control on behalf of the baby.”
“Your current plan doesn’t give them control.”
“Make sure.”
“It already does.”
“Make it more sure.”
Jonathan exhaled through his nose.
“That is not a legal category.”
“Then invent one.”
Maya handed him his coffee.
“You’ll need this.”
He looked at the cup as if he had forgotten where it came from.
The nurses rolled me into the hallway.
Hospital ceilings are remarkably boring when you have no choice but to stare at them.
Square light.
White tile.
Square light.
Vent.
I counted them because counting was easier than thinking about my brother asking who controlled my assets if I became incapacitated.
At the elevator, another contraction folded through me.
The nurse at my left, a young man named Marcus, told me to breathe slowly.
“I am breathing.”
“You’re holding your breath.”
“I’m doing it selectively.”
He smiled despite himself.
“Try less selective.”
The elevator opened onto labor and delivery.
There were soft pink walls that somebody had probably selected after an expensive meeting about calming colors.
They did not calm me.
Neither did the room they moved me into, although it was larger and had a window facing a wall of neighboring buildings.
Maya put the orchids on another windowsill.
I stared at them.
“Those flowers are following me.”
“They’re emotionally invested now.”
“Throw them away.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I carried them eight blocks emotionally.”
“You took a cab.”
“Same thing.”
The ordinariness helped for almost thirty seconds.
Then my phone rang again.
Mom.
I declined it.
Immediately, a text appeared.
We are coming to the hospital.
My hand tightened around the phone.
I typed, Do not come.
The reply arrived almost instantly.
We need to talk before you destroy your brother’s life.
Maya saw my face.
“What now?”
I turned the screen toward her.
May you like
She read the message and handed the phone back without speaking.
That silence was more useful than anything she could have said.
