Chapter 14 - Too SoonOlivia was thirty-four weeks pregnant.
Too early.
Not impossibly early.
But early enough to scare them.
Dr. Patel admitted her.
Medication.
Monitoring.
Steroid injections to help the baby’s lungs if delivery became necessary.
Ethan sat beside her.
This time, the room was quiet.
No family arguing.
No phones buzzing.
Just monitors.
Olivia whispered:
“Do you think this is because of them?”
Ethan answered carefully.
“I think stress didn’t help.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“I don’t know.”
She nodded.
Good.
No fake certainty.
At 2:00 a.m., Olivia developed a severe headache.
Blood pressure rose.
Nurses moved quickly.
Dr. Patel arrived.
“We may need to deliver.”
Olivia grabbed Ethan’s hand.
“No.”
“It may be safer for both of you.”
She started crying.
“I’m not ready.”
Ethan leaned close.
“Neither am I.”
That made her laugh through tears.
Good.
Then Dr. Patel said:
“We’re not there yet. But we need to prepare.”
Ethan called no one except his father, Mark.
Mark arrived quietly.
No demands.
No advice.
He sat in the waiting room.
At 5:40 a.m., Olivia stabilized.
Delivery postponed.
Relief hit so hard Ethan nearly collapsed.
Then Harris called.
He hated himself for answering.
They had searched Diane’s storage locker.
Inside were dozens of files.
Not just Olivia’s.
Vanessa.
Courtney.
Madison.
Financial records.
Passwords.
Copies of signatures.
Diane had been controlling all of her daughters.
Not equally.
But systematically.
Then Harris said:
“There’s a folder with your name too.”
Ethan stared at Olivia sleeping.
May you like
“What’s in it?”
“Your work schedule. Salary. Insurance policies. And a document labeled ‘accident contingency.’”
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