Chapter 3 - The Medina Confrontation-3
"Security!" Nurse Clara shouted, stepping into the doorway to block them. "You cannot enter this room! This is an intensive recovery unit!"
"Get out of my way, nurse!" Evelyn snarled, her manicured nails digging into Clara's arm as she shoved her aside. She burst into my room, her eyes locking onto me with a mixture of absolute outrage and panicked desperation. "Elena! What is the meaning of this?! My card was declined at the store! The Lexus dealership sent a tow truck to our driveway at 1:00 a.m.! Are you completely out of your mind?!"
Richard marched in right behind her, his chest heaving, his fists clenched at his sides. He didn't look at my leg suspended in traction. He didn't look at the heart monitor or the severe purple bruising covering my collarbone.
"You turned off the accounts, Elena," Richard boomed, his voice echoing off the sterile walls. "Your mother was humiliated in public! The country club manager called me personally to tell me our membership was revoked! Do you have any idea how embarrassing that is?! Turn them back on right now!"
I lay completely still in my bed. I looked at the two people who had raised me.
For thirty-two years, I had believed that if I worked harder, if I paid off another credit card, if I funded another one of Seraphina’s failed business ventures, if I bought them a bigger house in Medina, they would finally look at me with the same warmth they showered on my sister. I had spent my entire life starving for a crumb of affection from two cold, calculating thieves.
"I asked you to take care of Leo and Maya," I said. My voice was not loud, but it possessed a razor-sharp clarity that froze both of them in their tracks. "I lay in a ditch with a shattered pelvis, begging you to watch my children for two weeks. And you told me your pickleball game was more important."
Evelyn scoffed, waving her hand dismissively. "Oh, don't be so dramatic! You were in a hospital! The doctors were taking care of you! Why should your father and I ruin our entire weekend schedule because you had a little car accident? You always make everything about you!"
"A little car accident?" Daniel Cho stepped forward from the shadow of the curtain, holding his leather briefcase. "Mrs. Mercer, your daughter suffered a compound pelvic fracture, two broken ribs, and internal bleeding. If the paramedics had arrived five minutes later, her twins would be orphans."
Richard glared at Daniel, his eyes narrowing in instant recognition. "Cho. What are you doing here? This is a private family matter. Get the hell out."
May you like
"Mr. Mercer," Daniel said smoothly, pulling a crisp white envelope from his jacket. "I am here as the executor of the Vance Estate and Chief Legal Counsel for VanceTech. As of 12:00 midnight, all financial ties between Elena Vance and your household have been permanently severed."
"Vance?" Evelyn’s voice suddenly dropped an octave. Her face lost every ounce of its color. She glanced nervously at Richard. "Why... why did you call her Vance?"
