Chapter 6 - The Golden Checkbook
The sun was just rising when the door to the hospital room opened.
My father walked in.
He wasn't wearing his tuxedo anymore.
He wore a crisp business suit.
He looked at Sophie sleeping, then looked at me without a trace of empathy.
"Evelyn, we need to handle this quietly."
He pulled a leather checkbook from his breast pocket.
"Preston made a mistake."
"He had too much champagne, and the pressure of the wedding got to him."
I stared at the man who had raised me.
"He framed an eight-year-old for theft and beat her with a piece of wood."
My father clicked his expensive pen.
"I have half a million dollars right here."
"Take it."
"Drop the charges."
"Tell the police it was a misunderstanding."
He held the check out to me.
"You need this money, Evelyn."
"You're a single mother."
I stood up slowly.
I looked at the check.
Then I looked into his cold, calculating eyes.
"You're right about one thing."
"I am a single mother."
"Which means my daughter's protector is me."
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I slapped the check out of his hand.
"Get out before I call hospital security."
