Page 65 of Single Mom's Undoing
“Momma, she’s being mean,” Matty says, giving her a sour look.
Damon appears at the end of the hall. As soon as he spots Elizabeth, his stride quickens and his glare darkens, but she’s too busy spewing her venom at my expense to notice him.
“You’re not even worth my time, Clara. You never were. The whole town knows what a floozy you were and always have been. It didn’t surprise anyone that you had yourself a Lockwood bastard on your way out. What was surprising was that you had the audacity to bring him back and?—”
“Elizabeth.”
Damon’s low voice is angry enough to make her go immediately silent.
“Damon,” Elizabeth replies, taking a step to the side and turning to face us both. “I was just popping by to see Shiloh.”
“Consider this your last warning,” he says and hands her an envelope.
She stills and stares at it for a long second. “What is this?”
“Read it.”
I gather Shiloh and Matty close and take a few steps back, eager to get the kids out of earshot. In a moment of clarity, Itake out my phone and put on one of their favorite Peppa Pig videos, giving it to Matty to hold. “Here, honey, show this to Shy-Shy. You love this episode,” I gently tell him.
“Okay, Momma,” he says and does as he’s told. “Shy-Shy, look at this.”
“Oh, Peppa!” the little girl exclaims.
And just like that, the kids are no longer paying attention. With a little bit of luck and a cheesy bribe later at Mondy’s, I’m hopeful they will both have completely forgotten about Elizabeth’s intrusion by the time we put them to bed.
In the meantime, Elizabeth opens the envelope, a look of horror imprinting across her face as she reads the document. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” she gasps.
“Surely, you or Bill’s lawyers saw this coming,” Damon replies. Beneath his calm demeanor, a sea of pure anger unfolds. “What did you expect would happen, Elizabeth, that I would be all bark and no bite?”
“I can’t believe it. A restraining order?”
“I told you repeatedly to stay away from us while we deal with family court. And yet repeatedly, you have tried to accost my daughter?—”
“Ourdaughter.”
“No,mydaughter. You walked out of her life, Elizabeth. There’s no denying that. No changing that part of history. It’s inscribed in legal documents. Just because you gave birth to her does not make you her mother. You abandoned her and gave up your parental rights.
“I’ll say it again, you have repeatedly tried to accost my daughter despite my requests to leave her alone, to notdisturb or confuse her,” Damon continues. “This is the consequence, Elizabeth. Do not eventhinkabout making another attempt to see her again,” he nearly growls, lowering his voice to make sure the kids don’t hear him. “I’ll see you in court.”
“Damon, you can’t do this?—”
“I just did. The next time I catch you anywhere near my daughter, I’ll drag your ass to the police station myself. I’ll enjoy making a citizen’s arrest, I promise.”
She’s tearing up, and if I didn’t know better, I might actually be touched, tempted to believe that she is in genuine pain. But that’s not pain. That’s just Elizabeth’s ego getting crushed, and she simply can’t cope. She’s gotten by without facing the consequences of her actions for her entire life.
It’s time she got what was coming to her.
“And the next time I hear you insult or harass Clara in any manner, I will show you what real wrath looks like,” Damon snaps, inching closer as he towers over her. “You’ve done enough damage to my family. I will fucking obliterate you if you keep this up. We’re finished, Elizabeth. You will never be a part of Shiloh’s life.”
“You will regret this,” Elizabeth hisses, tears streaming down her pale cheeks.
“Get the fuck off my property before I have you arrested for trespassing.”
Stunned, insulted, and utterly humiliated, Elizabeth gives me one last look, her lips twisted with anger and disgust. I’m sure there’s a lot she wants to say to me, but she knows it will cost her dearly, and the bill is already sky-high.
“You’ll pay for this,” she tells me.
“You brought this on yourself,” I reply. “At least own it.”
