Chapter 6 - THE PHANTOM’S UNRAVELING: WHEN SLOANE’S LIES FINALLY CATCH UP TO HER
The sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows of Sloane Avery’s downtown luxury apartment did nothing to warm the freezing atmosphere inside.
Sloane paced back and forth across the white imported rug, her phone clutched tightly against her ear, her face twisted in a mask of hysterical panic.
“What do you mean, the account is closed?!” Sloane shrieked into the receiver, her voice pitching upward into an ugly, piercing octave. “I’m three months pregnant with Cole’s child! You can't just cut off the line of credit!”
A polite, robotic customer service representative’s voice droned through the speaker: “I’m sorry, Ms. Avery, but the corporate account associated with this card has been frozen under a court-ordered marital asset injunction by Sterling & Vance Family Law. All secondary authorized user cards are permanently inactive.”
The line went dead with a sharp click.
Sloane lowered the phone slowly, staring at the screen in absolute disbelief before hurling the device across the room. It shattered against the baseboard, scattering plastic casing and lithium battery parts across the pristine floor.
Just then, the front door unlocked and swung open.
Cole Bennett walked into the apartment, carrying his briefcase in one hand, looking like a man who had aged ten years in the span of a single week. His tie was loosened, his shoulders slumped, and his eyes were hollow and bloodshot.
“Cole!” Sloane cried out, rushing toward him like a drowning victim grasping at a straw. “Thank God you’re here. Your credit cards are blocked! My landlord just served me a three-day notice to pay rent or quit, and the grocery delivery service wouldn't process my order! You need to call your bank right this second and—!”
Cole didn't move. He didn't drop his briefcase. He didn't open his arms to catch her.
He stood in the entryway like a statue carved out of ice, looking down at Sloane with an expression so terrifyingly vacant that she stopped dead in her tracks.
“Cole? What’s wrong with you?” she stammered, her voice dropping into a nervous whisper. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“The account isn't just frozen, Sloane,” Cole said, his voice terrifyingly quiet. “Bennett Biomedical is in receivership. The patent injunctions Claire filed this morning have completely paralyzed our manufacturing pipeline. We have zero revenue, zero investors, and zero liquidity.”
Sloane’s mouth dropped open. “That’s... that’s impossible. You told me you were a multi-millionaire! You told me your company was worth ten times what Claire brought into the marriage!”
“My company was worth millions,” Cole snapped, his voice suddenly exploding into a harsh, ragged roar as he dropped his briefcase to the floor. “Until I signed away the voting shares to fund the luxury lifestyle you demanded! Until you forced me to believe that you were carrying my son!”
Sloane flinched, stepping back. “What... what do you mean by that?”
Cole took a slow, menacing step toward her, his eyes burning with a dark, volatile rage. “Let’s talk about your pregnancy, Sloane.”
Color drained from Sloane’s face so fast she looked like a sheet of bond paper. “My... my pregnancy? What about it?”
“I called Dr. Harrison this morning,” Cole whispered, his voice dripping with venom. “My family’s longtime OB-GYN. I asked him for your prenatal chart so I could prepare for the baby’s arrival.”
Sloane’s hands flew to her mouth, her eyes darting frantically toward the door.
“Do you know what Dr. Harrison told me, Sloane?” Cole continued, his voice shaking with furious disbelief. “He told me he hasn't seen you in six months. He told me that when you came in for a routine checkup back in August, your lab work came back negative. He told me you were never pregnant at all.”
The apartment went dead silent.
Sloane dropped her hands from her face, her fake, fragile facade instantly melting away into a pool of desperate, cornered malice.
“You idiot,” Sloane hissed, her voice suddenly losing its sweet, victimized lilt and hardening into a sharp, cruel rasp. “What was I supposed to do, Cole? You were married to a multi-millionaire cardiothoracic surgeon who treated you like a charity case while you struggled to get Bennett Biomedical off the ground! I had to give you a reason to leave her! I had to make you choose me!”
Cole stared at the woman standing in front of him—the woman he had abandoned his bleeding wife and his dying newborn daughter for.
“You lied to me,” Cole whispered, the full, devastating reality of his monumental stupidity crashing down upon his skull. “You lied about a child. You lied about everything.”
“And you believed me because your ego was too fragile to admit your wife was the real genius in the family!” Sloane shrieked, laughing hysterically. “You threw away a brilliant, wealthy surgeon for a apartment full of rented furniture! You deserve everything you got, Cole!”
Cole didn't yell back. He didn't strike her.
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He simply turned around, picked up his briefcase, walked out the front door, and let it click shut behind him.
He was completely, utterly alone.
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