Chapter 2: What Patricia Promised
The woman at the door didn't wait to be invited in.
She stepped inside, baby pressed against her chest, and looked directly at Patricia — not at Ethan.
"You told me he would handle this," she said.
"You told me the house would be mine."
The room went completely still.
Ethan turned to Patricia.
"What is she talking about?"
Patricia said nothing.
Her face had gone the color of ash.
I looked at the young woman.
She couldn't have been older than twenty-five.
Exhausted.
Frightened.
Holding a baby who was barely weeks old.
"How long have you known Patricia?" I asked her.
She hesitated.
Then: "She's the one who introduced me to Ethan."
Ethan took a step back.
"That's not — Patricia, tell her that's not true."
Patricia still didn't speak.
The two formal notices were still in the server's hand by the door.
I nododed, and he stepped forward and placed one on the table in front of Ethan.
The second one he handed to Patricia.
She looked down at it.
Her hands started to shake.
"What is this?" Ethan demanded.
"Read it," I said quietly.
He did.
And the moment he reached the third line, whatever was left of his confidence disappeared entirely.
But it was the young woman's next sentence that stopped everyone cold.
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"Patricia promised me the baby would change everything," she whispered.
"She said you'd never find out what she did with the money."
