Chapter 6 - The Mother-in-Law's UltimatumElena Vance did not believe her son could do anything wrong. To her, Julian was a golden god, a brilliant architect, and a dutiful son who could never commit a malicious act. So when she received a call from Julian’s defense attorney explaining that her precious boy was facing ten years in prison, she immediately went on the warpath.
Her first stop wasn't the police station or the courthouse. It was Mercy General Hospital.
Bursting through the doors of Clara’s recovery room without knocking, Elena’s face was twisted in absolute fury. "Clara! What kind of sick, manipulative game are you playing?!" she shrieked, marching right up to the side of the bed. "Throwing my son in jail over a little family disagreement? Ruining his career just because you couldn't handle missing a birthday dinner?!"
Clara didn't flinch. She slowly turned her head from the incubator to look at her mother-in-law, her expression as cold and still as carved marble.
"Lower your voice, Elena," Clara said, her voice dangerously quiet. "There is a premature infant sleeping right over there. One more sound out of you, and I’ll have hospital security drag you out by your expensive pearls."
Elena scoffed, crossing her arms tightly over her designer blouse. "Don't you dare talk to me like that! You’ve always been jealous of our family closeness. You faked that medical emergency just to punish Julian for loving his mother! You expect me to believe you were actually in danger? You just wanted attention!"
At that exact moment, the door pushed open again. Dr. Harrison walked in, holding a medical clipboard, followed closely by two armed hospital security guards.
"Mrs. Vance, I presume?" Dr. Harrison asked, stepping between Elena and the bed with an expression of icy disapproval.
"Yes! And I demand to know—"
"I am Dr. Harrison, the head obstetrician who performed your granddaughter's emergency delivery," the doctor interrupted loudly, his voice echoing off the walls. "Let me make this crystal clear for you, Mrs. Vance, since your son clearly lacked the basic intelligence to understand it: Your daughter-in-law suffered a catastrophic placental abruption. Her placenta tore away from the uterine wall while she was locked inside her home. If emergency personnel had not broken down that door when they did, both Clara and this innocent child would have bled to death on the kitchen floor."
Elena blinked, the color draining from her face for a split second before she stubbornly recovered her bravado. "Well... nobody died! So clearly it wasn't that serious! She's just exaggerating to get sympathy and alimony!"
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"Get out," Clara said, her voice cutting through the room like a razor blade. She pointed a steady finger toward the doorway. "Get out of my sight, get out of my life, and tell your precious son that the next time he sees me, it will be across a courtroom while a judge signs away his parental rights forever."
Dr. Harrison nodded to the guards, who immediately stepped forward, placing firm hands on Elena’s shoulders and escorting the sputtering, screaming woman out of the room. The heavy door clicked shut, leaving behind a silence so profound it felt holy.
