Chapter 4 - SHADOWS OF THE PAST
The next three days felt like walking through a minefield blindfolded. I scheduled the DNA test at an independent clinic on the outskirts of the city, ensuring there was no way the Carter family's vast wealth could tamper with the results. Sebastian had agreed to the terms without a fight, showing up to the clinic looking like he hadn't slept in a week. He hadn't spoken to me, only offering a silent, lingering look at the children that broke my heart just a fraction, despite the steel walls I had built around it.
But while Sebastian was playing by the rules, his fiancée was not.
It was late Friday afternoon. I was alone in my small office at the back of the kitchen, finalizing payroll. The front door chime rang, but the kitchen was empty; the staff had already gone home for the weekend. I walked out to the front, expecting a late vendor.
Instead, Olivia Bennett stood in the middle of my foyer.
She looked immaculate, wearing a pristine white trench coat and carrying a Birkin bag that screamed old money. She looked around my bakery with a polite, thinly veiled sneer of disgust.
"Quaint," she remarked, running a manicured finger over the edge of the front counter. "I suppose it's a step up from the trailer park you grew up in, isn't it, Hannah?"
"Get out, Olivia," I said, crossing my arms over my chest, my heart beginning to hammer against my ribs. "You are trespassing."
"Oh, relax. I'm just here for a friendly chat between women." She smiled, and just as Sophie had noted, it didn't reach her eyes. "Sebastian has been an absolute wreck this week. He actually believes your little sob story about the hospital."
"It's not a story. It's the truth."
Olivia laughed, a sharp, crystalline sound. "The truth is subjective, darling. The truth is whatever the people with the power say it is. Eleanor and I protected Sebastian from a gold-digging mistake. You didn't belong in our world then, and you certainly don't belong in it now."
"I don't want your world," I retorted, stepping closer, refusing to let her intimidate me. "I never did. I loved him. Something you wouldn't understand, since you clearly only love the reflection of his bank account."
Her eyes flashed with genuine venom. She dropped the polite facade. "Listen to me very carefully, you pathetic little baker. The Carter family is about to finalize a merger that will make Sebastian one of the most powerful men in North America. A scandal involving three illegitimate children and a scorned ex-wife will tank the stock prices. Eleanor will destroy you before she lets that happen."
"She already tried," I said coldly.
"She was merciful last time. I won't be," Olivia hissed, reaching into her designer bag and pulling out a thick manila envelope. She tossed it onto the counter. It landed with a heavy thud. "There's a cashier's check in there for five million dollars. Tax-free. Take it. Pack up your brats, close this depressing little kitchen, and disappear for good. If you don't..."
"If I don't, what?" I challenged. "You'll steal my phone again? You'll intercept my mail?"
Olivia froze, her eyes narrowing. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes, you do. You were the one holding his phone the night I went into labor. You were the one who deleted the voicemails. I know exactly what you did, Olivia."
She recovered quickly, smoothing the lapels of her coat. "Prove it. You have nothing but the word of a bitter ex-wife. Now take the money, Hannah. Because if you push this, child protective services might just get an anonymous tip about the unsanitary conditions of your home and business. It would be a shame for those kids to end up in the foster system."
The threat hung in the air, vile and suffocating. My blood ran ice cold, and a primal, maternal rage flared inside me. I didn't yell. I didn't scream. I just stepped right up to the counter, leaning in close so she could see the absolute murder in my eyes.
"Take your money," I whispered, sliding the envelope back toward her, "and get out of my sight. If you ever threaten my children again, Olivia, I won't need a lawyer. I'll destroy you myself."
May you like
She sneered, snatched the envelope, and turned on her heel. "You've been warned, Hannah."
As the door swung shut behind her, my hands began to shake. She thought she had won. She thought I was cornered. But she didn't know about the recording. She didn't know I was holding a lit match, just waiting for the right moment to drop it on her perfectly curated life.
