Chapter 1 - THE FIFTY-THOUSAND-DOLLAR FATHER
Claire had been awake for twenty-seven hours when Derek walked into the hospital room and threw banking papers onto her lap.
The twins were asleep against her chest.
One boy.
One girl.
Tiny.
Warm.
Perfect.
Claire looked up slowly.
Derek wore a mustard T-shirt and the expression of a man arriving late to collect something he believed was his.
“Pay me fifty thousand dollars.”
Claire stared.
“For what?”
He pointed at the babies.
“I did my job. I gave you children.”
For one second, Claire thought exhaustion had finally broken her brain.
Then Patricia Walsh stepped in behind him.
Cream suit.
Pearls.
No smile.
Claire looked between them.
“You think becoming a father deserves a paycheck?”
Derek slammed one hand against the side of the bed.
“I fulfilled my duty.”
The baby girl stirred.
Claire hugged both infants tighter.
“Lower your voice.”
Patricia stepped forward.
“Stop being ungrateful and pay my son.”
Claire laughed.
It came out half angry, half broken.
“Fine.”
Derek’s face changed instantly.
“Finally.”
Claire reached for her phone.
“You want money for every child you helped create?”
Derek nodded.
“Exactly.”
Claire pressed one button.
The door opened.
A young woman stepped inside carrying a baby carrier.
Derek’s smile vanished.
“What is she doing here?”
Patricia’s face hardened.
The young woman looked at Derek with red-rimmed eyes.
Claire turned to him.
“You said fathers should get paid, right?”
The woman pulled a folded hospital paper from her bag and threw it against Derek’s chest.
“Then where’s my fifty thousand? I gave birth to your baby too.”
Patricia gasped.
“What?”
Derek went completely pale.
The young woman pointed to the baby carrier.
“You used me, lied to me, and disappeared after I had your son.”
Claire watched Derek take one step backward.
Then another.
Patricia looked down at the paper.
Her reaction was wrong.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
Claire saw it.
“You knew.”
Patricia looked up too quickly.
Claire’s exhaustion vanished.
May you like
“You knew about this baby.”
And suddenly the betrayal in the room became larger than Derek.
