Sienna appeared on the tablet wearing Nathan’s white hotel robe, one shoulder exposed, his phone balanced between two manicured fingers.
“She keeps calling,” she said to whoever was recording.
“Maybe I should answer and tell her where her husband really is.”
Nathan’s own laughter came from somewhere beyond the camera.
The sound was low and careless, the laugh of a man who believed his private cruelty would remain private.
Sienna glanced at the screen again.
Clare’s name was visible above six missed calls.
“She’ll still be there when you get back,” Sienna said.
“Women like her always stay.”
Nathan’s voice answered, blurred by music from the hotel suite.
“Clare doesn’t know how to leave.”
Sienna smiled directly at the camera.
“After tonight, the apartment, the money, even the baby won’t keep him there.”
The video ended.
Nathan stood in the silent apartment with Clare’s hospital wristband cutting into his palm.
He remembered the moment now.
Sienna had been filming herself for a private social media story.
Nathan had been near the balcony pouring another drink.
He had heard Clare’s phone calls and laughed when Sienna mocked them.
At the time, he had felt powerful.
Now the laughter sounded like evidence.
The doorbell rang.
Nathan did not move until it rang a second time.
When he opened the door, Rebecca Shaw stood in the hallway wearing a charcoal coat and a calm expression.
Beside her was a process server holding a large envelope.
“Nathan Donovan?” the man asked.
Nathan looked at Rebecca.
“Where is my wife?”
“Safe,” Rebecca replied.
“She’s pregnant.
You can’t just hide her from me.”
Rebecca’s eyes hardened.
“Mrs.
Donovan is not property that has been hidden from you.”
The process server handed Nathan the envelope and stated that he had been served.
Inside were a divorce petition, a request for temporary custody after the baby’s birth, and an order requiring all communication with Clare to pass through counsel until a scheduled emergency hearing.
Nathan skimmed the first page and felt anger rise where shame had been.
“This is insane.
She had one medical scare and now she’s trying to take my child?”
Rebecca looked past him at the hospital wristband on the coffee table.
“She suffered contractions after receiving a message from your companion.
She called you repeatedly.
When you did not answer, she called her physician.
Dr.
Blake found her semiconscious on the floor.”
Nathan’s face changed.
Rebecca continued.
“The hospital stabilized her and the baby.
She was discharged on Christmas Day with instructions to avoid stress and remain under observation.”
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“She tried.”
The answer landed harder than an accusation.
Rebecca entered only after Nathan stepped aside.
She placed a second folder beside the Cartier box.
Nathan saw printed screenshots of Sienna’s messages.
