Chapter 10 - The Price of Treason
The next two hours were a whirlwind of absolute chaos.
Claire arrived at our house at 9:00 AM, screaming and crying. Her hair was a mess, and her red dress from the night before was rumpled.
"Nora! Nora, please!" she sobbed, pounding on the glass of the front door.
I didn't open it. I stood in the hallway, watching her through the glass. Damon stood behind me, looking like a broken shell of a man.
"Owen threw me out!" Claire shrieked, her voice cracking. "He called off the wedding! He took the ring back! He said he's going to ruin my career!"
Indeed, Owen was a major partner in the marketing firm where Claire worked. Her professional life was as dead as her social life.
"Nora, please, we've been friends for twelve years!" she cried, pressing her hands against the glass.
"And you were in my closet while I was pregnant," I said, my voice carrying clearly through the intercom system. "You wore your lingerie in my bed. You took my husband's money. You are no friend of mine, Claire. You are a parasite. And you are officially excised."
I turned off the intercom.
I turned to Damon. He was weeping silently, his head in his hands.
"The movers will be here at noon to take my things," I said. "The lawyers will handle the rest. You have twenty-four hours to vacate this house. It is being put on the market, and my father’s lawyers will ensure you do not receive a single dime of the profit."
"Nora... please," Damon whispered. "Our daughter..."
"You will have supervised visitation," I said cold, hard finality. "Once a month. Under the supervision of a social worker. You will never, ever be alone with her."
I picked up my keys and my laptop.
"Where are you going?" he asked, looking up with tear-filled eyes.
"To start my life," I said.
May you like
I walked out the front door, stepping past Claire, who was slumped on the porch steps, sobbing into her hands. I didn't look at her. I didn't feel anger, or pity, or satisfaction.
I felt only the clean, sharp cold of freedom.
