Chapter 7 - The Door Between Them

Emma did not open the door.

"Leave."

Emma called Mara, then 911.

"I said leave."

"Nathan fired me because of you."

"Nathan fired you because of you."

Silence.

Then Olivia's voice hardened.

"Do you know how many nights he called me after you went to sleep?"

Emma pressed a hand to her stomach.

"I don't care."

"You should. He told me he felt trapped."

That one landed.

Emma closed her eyes.

Olivia kept talking.

"He told me your grief filled every room after the miscarriages. He couldn't breathe."

Emma's eyes burned.

Nathan had said those words once in therapy.

Not about Emma.

About himself.

But the wound opened anyway.

"Why are you here?"

"Because he made me the villain to win you back."

"You came to my temporary home and photographed me at a medical clinic. You don't need help becoming the villain."

Footsteps pounded up the stairs.

Mara arrived first, carrying a wooden broom like a spear.

"Back away from the door."

Olivia turned. "Who are you?"

Police arrived moments later.

Olivia was escorted outside.

Before she left, she looked up at Emma's window and mouthed one sentence.

He will choose me.

Emma slept badly that night.

At dawn, she called Nathan.

He answered on the first ring.

"Emma?"

She almost hung up at the sound of his voice.

"Did you tell Olivia I made you feel trapped after the miscarriages?"

A long silence.

"I told her I felt helpless," Nathan said. "And I hated myself for not knowing how to help you. I should never have told her that."

"She came here."

Nathan's voice changed instantly. "What?"

"She found me. She photographed me."

"Are you safe?"

"Police made her leave."

"I'm coming."

"No."

The word came out so sharply that he stopped.

"Do not come here."

Nathan breathed hard on the other end.

"Okay."

Emma waited.

No argument.

No bargaining.

Just okay.

Then he said, "I will handle her from here without touching your location. If you need a lawyer, security, anything, tell Mom and I'll pay for it with no conditions."

Emma looked at the ocean.

"Nathan?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't make me regret calling."

His answer was barely above a whisper.

"I won't."

An hour later, Emma received an email from an attorney she did not know.

Subject: NOTICE OF MARITAL PROPERTY PRESERVATION.

Attached was a filing prepared on Nathan's behalf.

It asked a New York court to prevent Emma from moving marital assets out of state.

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Emma stared at the signature.

Nathan Whitmore.