“You knew,” I whispered.
The words were barely louder than a breath, but they sliced through the room like a razor blade drawn across dry slate.
“You knew I was carrying your child in November, Diego.”
“You knew before you went to the clinic in January.”
“You tried to murder our baby in my own kitchen.”
Diego’s hands began to shake with a violent, uncontrollable palsy.
His eyes darted frantically between Marcus, the armed federal agents, and the printed ultrasound strip resting on the rolling cart. The pompous, arrogant executive who had strutted through the coffee shop two weeks ago was gone; in his place stood a cornered, terrified rat caught in the glare of a thousand-watt searchlight.
“Laura… Laura, listen to me!” Diego pleaded, his voice breaking into a high, ruined rasp as he lunged toward the bed, reaching his hands out toward me. “It wasn’t my idea! It was my father! It was Arthur! Arthur told me the company was sixty million dollars in debt to the Swiss lenders! He said if we didn’t trigger the reversion clause by the end of the first quarter, the banks would seize everything! Paula was the one who bought the chemicals online! I swear to God, Laura, I tried to stop her!”
“YOU COWARD!” Paula shrieked from the wall, lunging forward with her manicured nails bared, striking Diego across his cheek with a vicious, tearing blow!
*SLAP-CRACK.*
“You were the one who poured the drops into her morning tea every Tuesday!” Paula screamed, tears of manic rage streaming down her makeup. “You told me you loved me! You told me that once Laura signed the divorce papers, you and I would take the sixty-four million to Zurich and leave her with nothing!”
“Shut up! Shut your mouth, you psycho bitch!” Diego roared, shoving Paula violently backward against the examination sink.
*CLANG.*
“FEDERAL AGENTS! DO NOT MOVE!”
The two tactical operators closed the distance in half a second.