“David, I need you to pull my contract,” I whispered, keeping my voice low so it wouldn't carry under the restroom door. “I need you to look at the breach clauses right now.”
“I’m in the middle of a motion filing, Maya. What’s going on? Are they trying to back out?”
“No,” I said, my throat tightening. “The intended father… David, he’s the man who assaulted me this morning. I told you someone slapped me on Wall Street on my way to the clinic.”
The line went dead silent. For a few seconds, the only sound was the distant hum of traffic outside David’s office window.
“Are you completely sure?” David’s tone had shifted instantly from harried lawyer to absolute focus.
“I’m staring right at him. His name is Julian Vance. He recognized me. He has the same custom cufflinks, the same voice, the same arrogance. David, I am terrified, but I also know that he’s terrified of me. What does the contract say about assault?”
I could hear the frantic clicking of a keyboard as David pulled up the encrypted file on his laptop.
“When Genesis Elite drafted this, they wanted to make sure you were treated like property,” David muttered rapidly as he skimmed. “They wrote in draconian penalty clauses to ensure you couldn't extort them, drink, smoke, or behave badly without losing everything. But in order for the contract to be legally binding in New York, the behavior clauses had to be reciprocal. Wait. Here it is. Clause 14-B.”
“Read it to me,” I demanded, pressing the phone harder to my ear.
“‘The Intended Parents agree to maintain a secure, respectful, and safe environment for the Surrogate throughout the duration of the gestation period. Any documented physical or emotional abuse, endangerment, or violent coercion committed by the Intended Parents against the Surrogate shall constitute a material breach of this Agreement. Upon such breach, the Intended Parents forfeit all custodial rights, the contract is nullified, and the Surrogate retains full legal custody of the child, as well as an immediate punitive payout of the escrowed five million dollars to prevent public litigation.’”
My breath caught in my throat. Five million dollars. And custody.
“They put that in there because they assumed they would never, ever be in a position to be accused of it,” David said, his voice dark with realization. “It was a boilerplate PR protection measure to assure their billionaire investors that Genesis Elite operates safely. Maya, if you have proof he hit you, you own him. You completely own him.”
“Proof,” I whispered. The adrenaline in my system spiked sharply. “The street. It happened in front of the Federal Reserve building. There are a dozen security cameras pointing at that exact corner.”
“I can subpoena the footage,” David said instantly. “But I need time to file the emergency motion before the security firm loops their footage and overwrites it. Usually, they wipe it every forty-eight hours. You need to keep him calm. Do not let him know you have leverage. Play the terrified victim. Can you do that?”
“I’ve been practicing all morning,” I said bitterly.
“Maya, listen to me carefully,” David’s voice turned grim. “Men like Julian Vance do not lose gracefully. When he realizes what that clause means, he will try to eliminate the threat. Do not be alone with him. Ever. I’m starting the paperwork now.”
I hung up, staring at my reflection in the mirror.
The bruised woman looking back at me was no longer just a victim. She was a loaded gun pointing directly at Julian Vance’s empire.
I smoothed down my blouse, took a deep, steadying breath, and walked back out into the hallway.
As I rounded the corner back toward the private suite, I stopped dead in my tracks.
Julian was waiting for me.
He was standing alone in the hallway, leaning casually against a polished credenza, his hands shoved deep into his suit pockets. Mrs. Halloway’s door was firmly shut. Eleanor was still inside.
He had intentionally cornered me.
I froze, instinctively taking a half-step backward, my hands coming up to guard my stomach. The air between us was electric with tension.
Julian pushed off the credenza and took a slow, deliberate step toward me. The polite clinic mask was gone. In the dim hallway lighting, his icy eyes were practically glowing with predatory menace.
“We need to have a very clear, very private understanding, Maya,” Julian said softly. His voice barely rose above a whisper, yet it felt as loud as a gunshot in the confined space.
“I need to get back to the meeting,” I said, my voice trembling naturally. It wasn't entirely an act.
He took another step, invading my personal space just as he had on the street. I backed up until my shoulders hit the wall.
“What happened this morning was unfortunate,” Julian murmured, leaning in close enough that I could smell the sharp oud cologne again. It made me want to gag. “You were clumsy. I was under immense stress. My father-in-law is a very demanding man, and my patience was thin. But I am a reasonable man, Maya.”
He reached into his jacket pocket. My breath hitched, my mind flashing to the bodyguard, expecting a weapon, but instead, he pulled out a slim, black leather checkbook.
“I don't know what you think you can do with this little coincidence, but I am going to make it very simple for you,” Julian said, his eyes flicking to the bruise on my cheek. He didn't look remorseful; he looked annoyed that he had to deal with the cleanup. “I am writing you a personal check for fifty thousand dollars. Today. Tax-free. You will deposit it, you will finish out this pregnancy without a single word of complaint, and you will forget that this morning ever occurred. Do you understand me?”
I stared at the checkbook. Fifty thousand dollars. To a man like him, it was pocket change. To me, it was supposed to be a lifeline. But it wouldn't even dent my medical debt, and it certainly didn't erase the violence he had inflicted on me.
He was trying to buy his way out of a material breach.