Chapter 3

The next day, Brenda hustled me into Susan's small, private clinic.

Mark came along, looking uncomfortable but resolute.

Susan, Brenda's friend, was all smiles and efficiency.

The cold gel on my belly, the whir of the machine. I'd been through this before.

Susan pointed to the screen. "There's your little one. Healthy heartbeat."

Brenda leaned in, her eyes like a hawk's. "And? The gender, Susan? Is it a boy?"

Susan clicked a few buttons, then smiled faintly. "Congratulations, it's a girl."

A wave of pure joy washed over me, quickly masked. My daughter. My precious girl.

Brenda's face fell. She didn't even try to hide her disappointment.

"A girl," she muttered, turning away. "Well, that settles that."

Mark looked down, a sigh escaping him. "Right. A girl."

The car ride back was silent. The pretense of family support had vanished.

The divorce proceedings were shockingly fast. Tom, with his legal connections, pushed everything through.

They wanted me out, and my "worthless" female baby with me, before my "financial ruin" tainted them.

We stood in the cold, impersonal hallway of the county courthouse.

The ink was barely dry on the divorce papers.

I felt a strange lightness. This was it. The first major step.

As we walked out, Brenda suddenly beamed, a triumphant, malicious smile spreading across her face.

"Mark, darling," she called out.

A young woman, pretty, timid, and visibly pregnant – maybe four or five months along – approached them.

Brenda put an arm around her. "Sarah, I'd like you to meet Jessica. Mark's future. And she," Brenda patted Jessica's stomach proudly, "is carrying Mark's son. The true Carter heir."

My breath hitched.

Jessica. Mark's paralegal.

In my past life, I died before knowing this. He had a mistress. A long-term affair. And his whole family knew. They were replacing me even before I was gone.

The pieces clicked into place. Their eagerness for the divorce, their dismissal of my daughter.

Jessica looked down, avoiding my eyes, clearly uncomfortable but also under Brenda's thumb.

Mark had the grace to look slightly ashamed, but he stood by his mother and Jessica.

I just stared, letting the new layer of betrayal wash over me, fueling my resolve.

As Brenda was gloating, Mark's phone rang. He answered, his face going pale.

"What? Now? How did they find... Oh God."

He looked at his mother, panic in his eyes. "Mom, it's... it's Kevin's guys. The loan sharks. They're at the house. They're trashing it."

Brenda gasped.

Mark then turned to me, his eyes wide with a new kind of desperation.

"Sarah... you have to help us."

The irony was almost too much.