Chapter 5 - The Setup
The next morning, the hospital room was quiet.
Rain lashed against the window.
At exactly 10:00 AM, the door swung open.
Margaret marched in, the blue folder clutched in her hands.
Evan followed, looking nervously over his shoulder.
Harold stayed by the door, acting as a lookout.
“Good morning, Claire,” Margaret said briskly.
She didn't ask how Claire was feeling.
She didn't ask about baby Lily.
She just dropped the folder on the rolling tray table.
“Time to sign. The lawyers are waiting.”
Claire sat up slowly, wincing in fake pain.
She reached over to her bedside table and picked up the black pen.
She clicked it once. The recorder was live.
“I don’t understand, Margaret,” Claire said, her voice trembling.
“Why do I need to sign the house over to Evan right now?”
“We just had a baby.”
Evan stepped forward, rubbing his face.
“It’s for tax purposes, Claire. Just trust me.”
Claire looked at her husband.
“The way I trusted you when Harold pushed me to the floor?”
The room went dead silent.
Harold sneered from the door.
“You tripped, remember? That’s what the doctor wrote down.”
Claire looked at Harold. The camera in the pen was capturing his face perfectly.
“You shoved me, Harold. I almost lost my baby.”
Margaret slammed her hand on the table.
“Enough of this drama! You are a hysterical woman!”
Margaret flipped the pages of the folder.
She purposefully kept the second document hidden.
“Sign the line, Claire. Or Evan will divorce you and take the child.”
“You’ll be left with nothing.”
Claire kept her hand steady.
She needed them to mention the hidden document.
“What about the other paper, Margaret?” Claire asked softly.
“The one underneath.”
Margaret froze.
Evan’s face drained of color.
“What paper?” Evan stammered.
May you like
“The one that says 'Effective Before Child’s Birth',” Claire said.
The trap was set. She waited for them to step into it.
