Chapter 3 - The Gathering Storm
The quiet that followed our return home felt fragile, like thin ice stretched across running water. In our living room, Fiona sat cross-legged on the carpet, meticulously coloring a winter forest. Her quietness was heartbreaking; eight-year-olds should be chaotic and exuberant, not tiptoeing around conversations as if afraid their very breath might spark an argument.
Samuel knelt down beside her, gently tucking a loose brown curl behind her ear. “Hey, monkey. What are you drawing?”
Fiona kept her eyes glued to the paper. “A tree. The big pine tree in Grandma Agnes’s backyard.” She hesitated, her small fingers tightening around a green crayon. “Daddy… do I have your eyes?”
Samuel’s chest heaved. He sat on the floor, pulling her onto his lap and wrapping his strong arms around her slender frame. “You have my eyes, my stubborn chin, and your mother’s beautiful heart. Anyone who pretends otherwise has sawdust where their brain belongs.”
Fiona leaned her cheek against his shoulder, letting out a long, shuddering sigh she had been holding since Christmas Eve.
While Samuel held our daughter, my phone vibrated repeatedly on the kitchen counter. Janice had finally broken her silence. The text messages arrived in rapid-fire succession:
*Samuel, your father and I are deeply disappointed by your tantrum yesterday.*
*A real man doesn't hide behind a defensive wife.*
*If that girl is truly your flesh and blood, a simple saliva swab should take five minutes.*
*Refusing the test proves you harbor doubts of your own.*
*Think about your inheritance before you burn bridges you cannot rebuild.*
I handed the glowing screen to Samuel. He skimmed the messages without speaking. When he reached the final sentence regarding the inheritance, a bitter, humorless smile crossed his lips.
“She still thinks she holds all the cards,” Samuel murmured, his voice dead of emotion. “She genuinely believes that my father controls the family money.”
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Without typing a single word in reply, Samuel blocked Janice’s number, followed immediately by Gerald’s and Kimberly’s. For the first time in his life, my husband severed the chain.
***
