Chapter 5 - The Unraveling of Marcus Reynolds
The Christmas dinner that Marcus had planned as a triumph was now a funeral for his reputation.
The staff of the house stood in the shadows,
witnessing the fall of their employer's son.
Word would get out.
In their social circles,
abandoning a pregnant wife was a scandal,
but abandoning a wife with quadruplets was a social death sentence.
"I'm calling the lawyer,"
Isabella declared,
pulling out her phone.
"This has to be a setup.
I want a DNA test.
I want a background check on this woman!"
I laughed,
straightening my coat.
"Go ahead,"
I said.
"In fact,
I’ll save you the trouble.
My legal team has already filed the paperwork to ensure Marcus has zero parental rights."
Marcus looked up,
his eyes wide.
"What?"
"You didn't want them then,"
I reminded him.
"You don't get them now.
I've spent years ensuring that you are legally a ghost to them."
I called the children back to me.
They came running,
happy to be moving again,
unaware of the legal barriers I had built to protect them from the man standing in front of them.
"We’re leaving,"
I announced to the room.
"We have a much better dinner waiting for us back in Austin."
Patricia stepped forward,
tears streaming down her face.
"Wait,"
she begged.
"Please...
can I just...
can I send them gifts?"
I looked at her,
seeing the regret that would haunt her for the rest of her days.
"You had eight years to send a card,
Patricia,"
I said.
"The time for gifts has passed."
I led my children toward the door,
the snow outside still swirling in the twilight.
Marcus followed us onto the porch,
standing in the freezing air without a coat.
He watched as the helicopter rotors began to spin,
the sound drowning out his desperate cries for me to wait.
As the helicopter lifted off the ground,
I looked down through the window.
Marcus was a small,
lonely figure on the snow-covered lawn,
surrounded by a massive house that was now a prison of his own making.
Next to him,
Isabella was shouting,
gesturing wildly,
already a part of the past he couldn't escape.
I sat back in my seat,
surrounded by the four people who mattered most in the world.
"Mama?"
Sophia asked,
leaning against my shoulder.
"Was that the mean man?"
I kissed the top of her head,
the scent of peppermint and snow filling my senses.
"No,
May you like
sweetie,"
I said as the lights of Boulder faded into the distance.
