Chapter 6 - The War of Intentions
Z
I didn't go back to the empty, quiet house I shared with Cole, nor did I go back to my father’s pristine mansion where cold judgment waited for me like a trap. Instead, I drove aimedlessly around the city for hours, watching the rain streak down my windshield until the sun began to peek over the horizon, painting the sky in dismal shades of gray and purple.
By 8:00 AM, I found myself sitting in my car outside a small, quiet coffee shop near the university district. My mind was a chaotic warzone. On one side stood my father's ruthless logic: He lied to you. He used your money. He hid a child. On the other side stood the heartbreaking reality I had witnessed in Ward 4: A man carrying the crushing weight of a dead friend's legacy, trying to save an innocent child.
My phone had been buzzing continuously in the passenger seat. Fifteen missed calls from Cole. Ten text messages pleading with me to come home so we could talk. And three calls from my father, undoubtedly wanting an update on whether I had signed the divorce papers he had so generously provided.
I ignored them all, until a text message popped up from a number I didn't recognize.
Maya, this is Dr. Aris from County Hospital. Please call me when you get this. It’s regarding Sarah Miller.
My stomach sank. I immediately tapped the number and put the phone to my ear.
"Dr. Aris?" I said, my voice hoarse from crying and lack of sleep.
"Maya, thank you for calling back," Dr. Aris said, her tone professional but laced with a heavy seriousness. "I got your number from Cole’s emergency contact file. I thought you should know... Sarah had a severe respiratory relapse early this morning. Her vitals are dropping rapidly. She has been moved to the Intensive Care Unit."
"Oh God," I gasped, holding my hand over my mouth. "Is... is Cole there?"
"He hasn't left her side," Dr. Aris replied. "Substance-wise, Sarah doesn't have much time left. A day, maybe two at most. But that's not the only reason I'm calling you."
"What do you mean?"
"Your father arrived at the hospital an hour ago," Dr. Aris said, her voice dropping lower. "He brought two attorneys with him. He is currently in the administration office trying to file a report with Child Protective Services, claiming that Cole is an unfit guardian and that Leo should be taken into state custody immediately."
A wave of pure, cold rage washed over me, instantly burning away my fatigue and confusion.
My father.
He wasn't content with just destroying my marriage; he was actively trying to destroy a dying woman's peace and tear a sick three-year-old child away from the only father figure he had ever known, all to force me back under his thumb. He was using a helpless boy as leverage in his personal war against my choices.
"I'm on my way," I said firmly, throwing my car into gear.
Twenty minutes later, I slammed my car door shut in the hospital parking garage and marched into the main lobby. The grief and doubt that had paralyzed me all night had metamorphosed into a dangerous, protective fury.
I didn't head to Ward 4 or the ICU. I marched straight toward the hospital administration wing.
As I rounded the corner of the executive corridor, I heard my father's sharp, authoritative voice echoing from an open office door.
"...and I am telling you as a major donor to this hospital's endowment fund, that man has no legal standing!" my father was shouting at a pale hospital administrator sitting behind a mahogany desk. "He is not the child's biological father! He is an un-credentialed musician with a history of irresponsible behavior. Allowing him to take custody of a terminally ill woman's child is a massive liability for this institution!"
Two men in dark suits sat beside my father, briefcase files opened on their laps.
"Dad!" I slammed the door open, my voice ringing out like a gunshot through the administrative office.
My father turned, his eyebrows raising in momentary surprise before his face hardened back into his usual mask of cold authority. "Maya. You shouldn't be down here. Go up to the waiting room. My lawyers and I are handling this mess."
"You are handling nothing!" I yelled, stepping into the room and standing directly between him and the administrator. "How dare you? How dare you bring your lawyers into a hospital to harass a dying woman and a sick child?"
"I am protecting you!" my father snapped, standing up from his chair, using his height to intimidate me. "That man lied to you, Maya! He kept this filthy secret from you for a year! And now he wants to drag you into raising someone else's bastard child? I won't allow it!"
"He isn't a bastard, and he isn't a secret!" I shouted back, stepping right into his space, refusing to back down. "Leo is the son of Cole's best friend who committed suicide! Cole was keeping a promise to protect them from people exactly like YOU! Cruel, heartless monsters who judge human beings based on their net worth and public image!"
The hospital administrator looked utterly uncomfortable, shrinking back into his leather chair, while my father's lawyers exchanged uncomfortable glances.
My father’s face flushed red with anger. "You are completely delusional! He manipulated you! He's using this sob story to make himself look like a martyr so you'll forgive him for deceit! If you walk away from me now, Maya, if you choose that gutter-trash over your family, I will make sure you don't get a single dime of your trust fund. I will cut you off completely!"
I looked at my father—the man whose approval I had spent twenty-four years desperately seeking, the man who had skipped my wedding because he couldn't control who I loved. And suddenly, he looked so small. So utterly empty.
"Keep your money," I said, my voice steady and cold as ice. "Keep your houses, your country club memberships, and your pathetic, lonely reputation. I would rather live in a cardboard box with a man who has a heart than spend another second pretending to be your daughter."
I turned to the hospital administrator. "If my father or his lawyers attempt to file any false reports regarding Cole or Leo, I will personally file an injunction against him for harassment, and I will make sure every news outlet in this city knows how a prominent businessman treats dying patients."
May you like
Without waiting for a response, I turned on my heel and walked out of the office, leaving my father standing there, his face red with impotent fury.
As I stepped back into the hallway, I saw Cole standing at the far end of the corridor. He had seen everything. He stood there, holding a paper cup of cold coffee, tears streaming down his face, looking at me as if I had just saved his life.
