Chapter 5 - THE LEGAL STORM
The next week was a blur of lawyers and medical clinics.
Ethan had stayed in Chicago,
renting out the entire top floor of the Peninsula Hotel.
He didn't pressure me,
but he was always there.
Flowers arrived every morning.
Not roses,
but lilies,
the ones I told him I liked on our first date.
The DNA results came back exactly as expected.
99.9% probability of paternity.
When the lawyer handed Ethan the paper,
he sat in the office and wept.
I felt a strange pang of sympathy for him.
He had missed the first steps.
He had missed the first words.
He had missed the sleepless nights and the messy birthdays.
“I want to provide for them,”
he told me during a meeting in his hotel suite.
“I’ve set up trust funds.”
“I’ve added them to my will.”
“They are the heirs to the Montgomery estate.”
“I don’t care about the estate,”
I told him firmly.
“I care about their stability.”
“They don’t know who you are,
Ethan.”
“You can’t just buy your way into their lives.”
He looked hurt,
but he nodded.
“I know.”
“Can I… can I take them to the park?”
“Just for an hour?”
“Arthur can come.”
“You can come.”
I looked at him,
really looked at him.
The arrogance was gone.
The billionaire persona had been stripped away,
leaving only a man who was desperate for a second chance.
“Saturday,”
May you like
I said.
“At the lakefront.”
