Chapter 4 - The Visit
"Send her up," I said immediately.
Samantha looked at me with genuine surprise. "Victoria, you gave birth less than twenty-four hours ago. You are under no obligation to entertain that woman. I can have hospital security escort her out of the building in three minutes."
"No," I replied, adjusting the pillows behind my back and pulling the white cotton blanket higher over my chest. "Let her come up. She was very bold when my father was dragging me across the floor. I want to see how bold she is without him standing in front of her."
Samantha studied my face for a moment, then nodded in respect. She stepped out into the hallway and spoke to the two security guards posted outside my door.
Three minutes later, the door creaked open.
Courtney stepped into the room, and the contrast between today and yesterday was staggering. Gone was the pristine blowout, the radiant smile, and the smug entitlement. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a hasty, messy ponytail. She wore an oversized beige trench coat, no makeup, and dark sunglasses that she quickly pushed up onto her head, revealing puffy, bloodshot eyes. She looked like a terrified child who had wandered into an artillery range.
She closed the door behind her, keeping her back pressed against the wood, her hands clutching a designer handbag that I recognized immediately—it had been purchased on Charles's corporate expense account last month.
"Victoria," she started, her voice shaking. "We need to talk."
I didn't answer. I simply stared at her, my expression completely flat.
Clara let out a small sigh in her bassinet, shifting slightly in her sleep. Courtney flinched at the sound, her eyes darting nervously toward the baby, then back to me.
"Look, yesterday... yesterday got completely out of hand," Courtney said, taking a tentative step forward. "Charles lost his temper. You know how he gets when he's stressed. He didn't mean to hurt you. He was just trying to protect the family assets! Lucas's death put immense financial strain on everyone, and Charles was just trying to manage the situation—"
"He dragged me by my hair," I said. My voice was quiet, almost conversational, but it had the weight of lead. "He dragged his eight-months-pregnant daughter down a flight of stairs and shoved her onto a concrete porch."
Courtney swallowed hard, her throat bobbing. "I told him to stop! I tried to pull him off you—"
"The Ring camera recorded everything, Courtney," Samantha interjected smoothly from the corner of the room, looking up from her tablet. "Every word. Every laugh. Including your comment when Victoria's water broke: 'Looks like the trash took itself out.' That audio file is currently being transcribed by the Onondaga County District Attorney's office as evidence for an accomplice indictment."
Courtney turned deathly pale. She looked at Samantha, then back at me, her lower lip beginning to tremble.
"Please, Victoria. I don't have anything to do with their business!" she cried, abandoning all pretense of composure. "I went to the bank this morning to get money for Charles's lawyer, and the teller told me my card was declined! Then I went to the ATM, and it swallowed my card! The apartment management on Genesee Street called me an hour ago saying the rent payment on our penthouse bounced, and they're issuing a three-day notice to quit! What did you do to our money?"
"It was never your money," I said.
"Charles is my husband!" she shrieked, taking another step toward the bed before Samantha stepped between us, her arms crossed, blocking her path like an immovable wall.
"Step back, Mrs. Baldwin," Samantha warned coldly. "You are violating the perimeter established by hospital security. One more step and I will have you arrested for criminal trespass."
Courtney halted, clutching her handbag against her chest like a shield. Tears carved clean lines through the residual foundation on her cheeks.
"You can't just leave us with nothing," Courtney sobbed. "I have bills. I have a car lease. I have my mother's medical expenses in Rochester! Charles told me he owned half of Gallagher Logistics! He promised me we would be set for life once Lucas was out of the way!"
I looked at her, feeling a wave of utter revulsion. Once Lucas was out of the way. They had been planning this while my husband was still breathing. They had sat in their luxury penthouse, watching Lucas work seventy-hour weeks, waiting like jackals for him to stumble so they could feast on the remains.
"My husband died in an agonizing car crash twenty-one days ago," I said, leaning forward, each word sharp as a razor. "He spent his last moments trapped inside a crushed cabin on Route 81 while emergency crews tried to cut him out. And you and Charles were sitting in Syracuse, looking at estate laws and calculating your payday."
"Victoria, please—"
"Listen to me very carefully, Courtney," I continued, my voice dropping an octave, dead and unforgiving. "You are twenty-four years old. You thought marrying a wealthy sixty-year-old bully was your golden ticket to an easy life. You thought you could step on his grieving daughter and laugh while his grandchild was forced into premature labor. But you backed the wrong horse."
I pointed toward the door.
"You have twenty-four hours to vacate the penthouse on Genesee Street. It is leased under Baldwin Enterprises, and the corporate lease was terminated twenty minutes ago. The company Mercedes you were driving is impounded. Your position as Vice President of Public Relations has been dissolved for gross corporate misconduct. You have no job, you have no house, and as of this morning, Charles Baldwin is millions of dollars in debt to my daughter's trust."
Courtney stared at me in sheer terror. The reality of her situation was finally crashing down upon her vanity.
"Where am I supposed to go?" she whispered, trembling.
"I suggest you call your mother in Rochester," I said coldly. "And tell her that her daughter needs a ride. Because if you are still in Syracuse by tomorrow afternoon, Samantha will ensure that the District Attorney signs the arrest warrant for your involvement in yesterday's assault. Get out of my room."
Courtney stood frozen for two seconds, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly. Then, letting out a strangled, pathetic sob, she spun on her heel and fled into the corridor.
The heavy door swung shut behind her with a definitive thud.
Samantha let out a slow exhale, tapping her pen against her tablet. "Well delivered, Mrs. Gallagher. That should save us the cost of serving her an eviction notice personally."
I leaned back against the pillows, closing my eyes for a moment as the adrenaline ebbed away. Clara whimpered slightly, then settled back to sleep.
"Samantha," I said softly.
May you like
"Yes, Victoria?"
"Get the locks changed at the corporate headquarters on Erie Boulevard. I'm discharging myself tomorrow morning. I want to be sitting in Charles's office when the board convenes."
