Chapter 6 - The Shattered Mirror
Two hours later, Brandon made the fatal mistake of arriving at my mother’s home alone. He didn't knock politely; he rattled the front door handle and demanded entry, his arrogance still intact. When I unlocked the door and stood in the doorway, blocking his path, he scoffed and attempted to push past me.
"Pack your things, Naomi," he ordered, pulling a pair of keys from his pocket. "I spoke to my parents. If you come to Brianna’s apartment, apologize to her and Waylon on camera for the haircut, and agree to rebook the venue for next month, we won't press assault charges against you. You made a fool of us, but I'm willing to be the bigger man."
I leaned against the doorframe, crossing my arms. "Fourteen weeks, Brandon."
He froze. The color instantly drained from his jaw. "What?"
"Fourteen weeks along. Room 304 at Valley Women's Health," I said, my voice dropping to a calm, deadly whisper. "The anatomical scan looks promising, doesn't it? Tell me, did you use the twenty-two thousand dollars stolen from our wedding down payment for the nursery renovations, or did that go directly into Brianna’s salon equipment?"
He stumbled backward down the front porch steps, his eyes widening in pure horror. The confident, domineering fiancé dissolved before my eyes, replaced by a cornered, pathetic boy. "Naomi... wait. It's not what you think. Brianna was scared... she had nobody else—"
"Save it for the judge, Brandon," I said coldly. "Marcus Vance is representing me. By noon tomorrow, an injunction will freeze every account tied to Aura Luxe Styling. The San Jose Police Department already has the security footage from the bridal suite showing Waylon shoving my sixty-year-old mother into a wall, along with Brianna intentionally destroying my property."
"You can't do this!" Brandon lunged forward, his face turning purple with rage. "You'll ruin my family's name! You'll leave my child with nothing!"
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"You destroyed that yourself," I said, looking him dead in the eye. "And don't you ever worry about my child. Because unlike you, this baby will grow up knowing what honor, truth, and real strength look like."
His breath caught. He looked down at my flat stomach, then back at my face, realizing the second, devastating truth he had thrown away. Before he could speak another word, I shut the heavy oak door in his face and turned the deadbolt.
