Page 22 of Balance

I nod and keep trying to call Lillian. No answer. I call the guard station and ask them if Brittany has left the house. They say that no one has left with her description yet.

I should have removed her from the list at the gate. I feel so fucking stupid. My stomach feels like it’s going to fall out of my ass. I’m sweating, jittery. I am fucking petrified.

I scramble out of the car after we finally pull up in front of my house. There’s a red Corvette parked sideways across my driveway. I’m assuming it’s a rental. I race up to the front door and hear Brittany screaming down the hall. I see red. I feel like I’m in a fog right now.

“You fucking tramp! You’re turned my fucking kids against me! They won’t even come near me. And fucking Morgan is so much better? Moving in some fucking young skank into my house right after he forced me to move out? Did you know that?He told me he would send me a million dollars if I got away from him and never came back… obviously I know the real reason now… He fell for someone else and pushed me away!”

“Um… I’m their nanny. And I would really prefer for you to leave. I don’t even know you, no one is poisoning your children against you. I really need you to calm down and…” I hear a loud slap and a gasp.

I pull Lillian behind me and glower at my ex when I finally make it to them. She looks like hell… Like she lost at least fifteen pounds. Her hair is greasy, stringy and pulled up high into a bun. She has no makeup on and is wearing a tracksuit with sandals. I tilt my head at her and sigh.

“Get out of my house before I call the cops. I have the papers you signed, my attorney knows you’re here and I will be filing this assault and your aggression with the courts. The court date is in two weeks, Brit. I suggest you call your attorney and figure out what you’re going to do, because after today? You’re not going to be able to drive through those gates again. I’m filing a restraining order. Get the hell out of my house.”

She laughs at me and shakes her head. “No. I’m their mother. I want them back. I want alimony, child support, and my house back. I just needed a damn break, a vacation. That’s all. I’m back, baby.”

I tsk at her and glance over to Lillian. “Go ahead and check on the girls. They need you right now.” She has a bright red mark on her cheek, her face is so pale, and her gray eyes look so dull. I feel like fucking shit right now. She scurries off and I move my glare back over to Brittany. “You signed the papers, Brittany. I have proof of your infidelity. Per our prenup that we both signed before we got married, if you cheated on me, you wouldn’t get a dime. You also signed for me to get full custody and in return, if you left, I would wire you ten thousand dollars… which I did.Why are you really here? Ran out of money? Your new boyfriend dropped your ass?”

She moves back, away from me, and her eyes grow wider by the second. “I can’t live like this! I spent all of that money already. Paolo stole all of my shit and left me in the middle of the night. I barely had enough money to make it back here. I stopped in New York to see your parents, to see if I could stay with them… they wouldn’t even answer the door. So I rented a car and drove all the way here without stopping. I don’t even have gas to leave. I need that million dollars.”

I roll my eyes and pull out my phone, readying it to call security. “I’m sure someone will call a tow truck for you. You’re not my problem anymore. See you in two weeks in court.”

She throws her hands in the air and screams. “Are you deaf? I just told you I don’t have the money for a fucking attorney!”

I shrug. “Then get a public defender or represent yourself. You. Are. Not. My. Problem. You shouldn’t have signed those forms or took the money. I want you out of my life, miles away from the girls. They don’t deserve this shit. You never cared about them or me. You just want something to hold over me and more of my money.”

She rolls her eyes and grabs her purse from the island. “Whatever. We’ll see… I’ll figure out a way to get what I want, Morgan. I always fucking do. I got you… I had a nice, easy, luxurious life and I want it again.”

I chuckle and follow her to the front door. “And that was all in the past. Now you’re a washed up puck bunny with nothing to show for it. I’m assuming your little thief stole all of your jewelry and designer clothes? How… awful.” I pout at her and open up the front door. “Get out of my sight you fucking parasite. Everything will be filed at the courthouse today and you won’t be able to get within four hundred feet of the girls. Do not show up at Avery’s school. Do not try to come back here. Do not call myparents or my friends. Save your bullshit for the judge.” I wink at her, slamming the door in her face.

I wait by the window as she peels out of the driveway. I make sure to call security to ensure she’s leaving and got the gate to get her name taken off of everything to do with this community. She won’t be able to get in again.

Hopefully.

I shake out my hands and jog down the hall, searching through the rooms. I hear quiet murmurs coming from Avery’s room and I slowly open up the door, peeking my head in to check on them. Avery is wrapped around Lillian with Nessa and Tilly on her lap. She’s comforting all of them, not caring about what the bitch did to her.

“Hey.” I step in, sinking down to my knees in front of them. “Your mom is gone… I need you girls to tell me everything that happened so that I can call my friend that will help us, okay?”

Avery licks her lips and stares down at her lap. “It’s my fault. Lillian said to wait for you to get home until we talked to her, but I just… I needed to know why she never loved me. All of my friends have moms that do stuff that Lillian does. But our mom was never around. She never even told me that she loves me or cares about me. She was sometimes in the house, but she locked herself in her room. She never played with us or took us to the park. She didn’t ask me how my day was… I just wanted to ask her why.”

She sniffles and Lillian kisses her head, rubbing her back. My heart cracks even more. They’ve never had a true woman in their lives that showed them love and care. How did they end up as decent as they have? So smart, kind, loving, and compassionate?

“Lillian opened the door and mom barged in, glaring at Lillian as if she was a mean, bad woman. Mom tried to grab us, trying to take us, and Lillian told us to go to come to daddy’s room and lock the door if it was open. If not then go to mine and hide. Sothat’s what we did. I shoved Tilly and Nessa under my bed and barricaded it. I was just so scared. Mom was so angry, screaming and getting closer to Lillian. I thought she was going to hurt her.”

I close my eyes and breathe in deeply. I should get Avery a phone so that she could have called the security company or even the police at this point.

“Anything else?”

Avery shakes her head. “No. I sang to my sisters so that it would block out the screaming. Lillian will have to tell you the rest.”

I nod and lean closer, kissing my daughters and blinking into their terrified eyes. “Can I hold all of you? I think we all need a hug.”

My girls scramble into my lap and I breathe them in. My heart is still pounding and I can’t stand to think about what would have happened if Lillian wasn’t able to stop Brittany from taking the girls. There wasn’t even enough room in the two-seater sports car, plus no fucking car seats. Was she just going to shove them in the trunk?

I shiver and close my eyes, trying to calm down.

“I am so sorry.” I murmur and rock all three of them. I glance up at Lillian and she nods at me. She stands up and runs her fingers through her wild curls.

“I’m going to go make some ice cream shakes. We’re going to all go play outside, then have a movie night… how does that sound, girls?”

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