Page 96 of Silver Linings
Corrine rolled her eyes. “We’ve been talking with your parents, Lily. They want to know the baby. They want to get to see her grow up and be a part of her life.”
“They lost that right when they cast me out like trash.”
“The truth hurts sometimes, darling,” Paul sneered.
“Look, I don’t know what you are doing here, but you need to leave. My husband won’t take kindly to you being here, let alone threatening me.”
“Oh goodness, we aren’t threatening you, Lily. You’re always so dramatic. We can’t possibly fathom what James saw in you, other than the ease with which you spread your legs open for him. Is that what Gunner saw in you, too?”
“How dare you?” Tears pricked at Lily’s eyes, but she would not dare let them fall in front of James’s parents.
“It’s not up to you anymore. A judge will see that the baby ends up with us. It’s what’s best for everyone involved.”
“A judge?” Her heart flooded with worry as she recalled the words Corrine yelled at her in the hospital. They were going to take Sage.
“We’ve made a formal petition to transfer permanent custody of the baby to our care. You’ll be required to travel back to Connecticut. This paperwork explains everything.”
Paul held out a large, legal document sized envelope towards Lily, but she couldn’t bear the thought of reaching out to take it.
“Of course,” his hand pulled back slightly. “We’d be willing to pay you one hundred thousand dollars right now for you to sign over your rights without a fight.”
Lily stared at them.
“We know it’s quite a large amount of money, and honestly more generous of an offer than you deserve, but you could really get yourself established with funds like that.”
“Y-you want me to sell you my daughter?” her shrill voice was an entire octave higher than normal. Where was Gunner? She needed his strength to tell them exactly where they could shove their generous offer.
“Think about it this way, Lily. You’re a mother now. You owe it to your daughter to give her the best life possible. We all know that the best life she could have is not with you.”
“You need to go.”
Paul set the envelope in her shopping cart, and she couldn’t help but stare at it like the ticking time bomb it was.
“We’ll be seeing you soon,” Corrine crooned at Sage as she ran her finger down the baby’s face.
“Do not touch my daughter,” Lily growled through clenched teeth.
“Honestly, Lily. This behavior is exactly why we’ve had to take such extreme measures. You’ve done this to yourself. If you hadn’t left, James wouldn’t have been drinking himself into a hole. He wouldn’t have been out that night, and he would still be alive. This is all your fault.”
Lily’s entire body froze. “What did you just say?”
“That’s right. My son, my only child, died because of your selfishness. He never even got to meet his daughter. But we’ll make sure she’s raised to carry out his legacy. You can falsify documents as much as you want, but she’s a Callahan through and through, and she will be raised in our family.”
“Your daughter is precious. How old is she?” Gunner didn’t look away from the deli counter. He didn’t care if he was being rude to some random woman, he just wanted to get his order and head back to Lily and Sage.
“Thank you. She is.”
“Was that your wife with her?”
Gunner’s head swung around from the deli counter and looked at the woman talking to him. Tall, slender, with harsh facial features, minus the smile that was spreading across her face. It didn’t feel welcoming. It felt like a warning.
“I don’t talk about my family to strangers,” Gunner said bluntly.
The woman didn’t look taken aback by his tone or confrontational stance.
“No, I didn’t expect you would, Mr. Brooks.”
The pit in his stomach churned.