Chapter 7

She marched over, her sharp acrylic nail digging pointing aggressively into my face.

"You care about Clara? Really?"

"Since the day they were born, all your attention has been on Chloe! You left Clara entirely to me!"

"What right do you have to say you care about her?"

Seeing me being threatened, and pushed to his limit by Eleanor’s public accusations, Richard threw all decorum out the window.

"Enough!"

"You claim I favor Chloe? Why don't you tell everyone here why a grown man like me has to bring his baby daughter to his office every single day?"

"It’s because of you! Because Chloe was born five ounces heavier, you tried to starve her! You even let your mother stuff her into a washing machine to 'spin the fat off'!"

"You would rather let your extra breast milk rot in the fridge than give Chloe a single drop!"

"Clara is lying in that ICU right now because you forced her to drink that spoiled, putrid milk!"

Richard's voice trembled with raw emotion. The onlookers instantly believed him and began whispering among themselves, casting disgusted looks at Eleanor.

Even the attending doctors hadn't realized the cause of Clara's illness was so absurd. Their attitude toward Eleanor shifted instantly to cold disdain.

Exposed in public, Eleanor's rage blinded her. "Divorce!" she shrieked.

To end the public scene, Richard agreed to keep her quiet. But Eleanor suddenly lunged forward, trying to tear me from his arms.

"I gave birth to them! You won't get either of them!"

Richard refused to let go. In the struggle, Eleanor’s nails clawed across Richard's face, drawing blood that dripped onto my baby clothes.

At that moment, the fake agreement turned into a final decision.

The one demanding a divorce now was Richard.