Chapter 48 Chapter 48
Liana's POV
Everything vanished.
My mother's soft breathing. Cam's tiny sighs. Even the continuous beep of the heart monitor faded into the background noise of the ringing in my ears. I stared at the screen as if it would shift into something else- something safer, something less explosive but it didn't. The words had the weight of an impending storm cloud ready to break open. My fingers closed around the phone as if holding on tighter could stop whatever was incoming.
Mom sat up now, the pale face alert even though fatigue etched it. "What has happened?" she asked in a soft voice, one that was smeared with concern.
I didn't answer right away. The terror crawled up my throat, thick and metallic. "It's my lawyer," I finally told her, my voice flat, almost mechanical. "Something with Dominic."
The name seemed strange again, too heavy for so short a syllable. Even today, even all these years later, after all the destruction and loss, just hearing it, made something unravel inside my chest.
"Is he going to… do something?" She asked worry creasing her face.
I nodded once. "Sounds like it."
She did not panic in her gaze, but regarded me with gentle comprehension. She grasped my hand, encircling cool fingers around mine with a calmness I lacked.
The door groaned open. The doctor stepped inside, a middle-aged man with a clipboard tucked under his arm and warm eyes. He was all warmth of grounding, even as my reality reeled.
"Vitals are stable," he stated, after a swift glance at Mom's monitor, and then Cam. "Her white-cell count's improving. We're happy with her recovery."
A wedge of relief cut through the knot in my back.
"Does that mean she can go home today?" I asked, my voice smaller than I meant.
He nodded. "Yes. We'll discharge her this afternoon. She just needs rest, good hydration, and her meds. And no stress."
Mom arched an eyebrow and drew out a wry smile. "No stress? Have you met my daughter ?"
Despite it all, I did laugh, a tiny, fractured sound, but real. The doctor smiled sympathetically. "I'll fill out the papers. She's younger, stress won't impact her as much as it does you.”
After he went away, we silently packed. Cam woke up when I draped her in her hoodie, swearing softly about dinosaurs that resembled clouds. Mom smiled and nodded along with us, a small smile curling on her lips. We made our way through the antiseptic corridors without much talk, as if protecting something fragile.
At home, I settled Mom onto the couch with fleece blankets and a mug of hot ginger tea. Cam burrowed up beside her like a second blanket, her bunny held close under her chin.
"Are you sure you're all right here?" I whispered, arranging her medications in tidy order on the coffee table “I can ask him to come here.”.
Mom's voice was firm but resolute. "I'll be fine. Go. Get the answers you need."
Answers. That was the problem, I couldn't remember what the questions were anymore.
…………
The ride in the elevator up to his office was a journey into something messier than I was ready for. My hands were sweating. My coat sleeves wrapped around my fingers. Each ding of the floor counter rang out louder than it had to.
I stepped out into his waiting room, suddenly hyper-sensitive to each step, each sound. He nodded curtly at me and gestured to the leather chair across from his desk. Light from the blinds created a slanted beam across the polished surface of the desk and the thick folder standing sentinel in the center of it.
His tie was unfastened a notch, his eyes more piercing than I'd recalled. Worn and deadly.
"Thanks for coming in," he said.
"Your message sounded urgent," I said, failing to keep up with his professional tone, but my voice was rough.
"It is." He opened the folder, closed it again without reading a word. "You were in violation of parental-rights statutes by withholding Dominic's child from him."
My stomach dropped.
"I…" I started, but he raised his hand.
"I know," he replied quietly. "Consensual or not, biological parenthood is what it means. Omitting him, even by error can be a breach. And if he goes to the court with this, the court is not going to be happy about that."
The atmosphere in the room seemed to fall by ten degrees. My fists tightened on the arms of the chair.
"He can press charges?"
Rainer nodded. "Legally, yes. There are extenuating circumstances; your past, your wanting to protect Cam, his absence from your life, but none of them preclude the legal risk."
I stared at the floor, guilt and fear knotted together. "I never wanted this. I was only trying to protect her. I didn't even know what I was doing half the time."
"I think you did," he said. "And the courts might, as well. But if Dominic wants to go public with this…"
The jagged buzz of his phone cut through the air like a blade. He glanced at it, frowned and then picked up.
"Hello," he replied in a constricted tone.
I watched his face alter as he listened. The seconds dragged on.
"Yes," he said. "Understood. Hold on."
He glanced at me. "It's Dominic's legal team. One of the lawyers is the one who phoned."
My heart thudded.
"Lester Vallin," Rainer went on. "Senior associate. Very calm."
My breath caught in my throat. "What did they tell you?"
"They're considering suing. But, this is interesting. With the way everything has been and since you both have things against each other, they want to settle out of court."
I gazed. "What does that mean?"
"No filings. No publicity. No subpoenas… Yet. They want to negotiate. In person. Just you and Dominic and lawyers in attendance."
The room tilted. The last time I stood face to face with Dominic when there was a fragile truth between us, it shattered everything.
"When?"
"Tomorrow. 10 a.m. Their office. Neutral territory."
My mouth turned parched. "Okay. I'll be there."
"You have to be careful Liana. Don't put all you have against him out in the open in case they try to play smart. We'll prepare ourselves over here too.”