Chapter 4 - The Intruder's EntranceGrant stopped at the foot of my hospital bed, crossing his arms with an expression of supreme self-satisfaction. The woman standing beside him slipped her arm possessively through his, flashing a hand directly toward me.
On her ring finger sat a diamond ring that caught the fluorescent hospital lights. It wasn't an engagement ring; it was a plain, thick gold band. A wedding ring.
"Surprise, Tessa," Grant said, his voice dripping with condescension. "I see you managed to pop the kid out without dying on the pavement. Good for you. Truly. But I figured since you’re discharged soon, you deserved to know how reality works now."
The woman beside him giggled—a high, grating sound.
"Tessa, right?" she purred, stepping forward. "I'm Cynthia. Grant and I have been seeing each other for over a year. He told me all about how you trapped him with a pregnancy, hoping to lock down a guy way out of your league. But let's be honest, sweetie—look at you. No career, no money, no house. Grant filed for divorce first thing this morning. Abandonment of the marital domicile, emotional distress—he’s taking everything."
Grant puffed out his chest, soaking in every word Cynthia said.
"It’s true, Tessa," Grant chimed in, stepping closer. "You're a burden. A low-level clerk with nothing to your name. I cleared your name off the lease of the house this morning. Your clothes and cheap personal effects are in garbage bags sitting by the curb outside. As for this baby—we'll figure out joint custody eventually, or maybe I’ll just let you keep her so you have a built-in excuse for why you're a failure."
He chuckled, glancing at Cynthia with a look that expected applause. He looked entirely certain that he had won the game of life. He believed he had discarded a broken toy and upgraded to a trophy wife, all while leaving me destitute and broken.
I didn't flinch. I didn't raise my voice. I simply looked at him with a profound, chilling pity that made his smile falter for a split second.
"Grant," I said softly, my voice cutting through the sterile room like a scalpel. "You really are an extraordinary kind of stupid."
Grant’s face flushed red with sudden anger. "Don't you dare talk to me like that! You have nothing! You are a broke, pathetic nobody!"
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Before Grant could launch into another tirade, a sharp, authoritative knock echoed at the open door.
Everyone in the room turned toward the entrance. What happened next froze the blood in Grant Holloway's veins.
