Page 36 of Single Mom’s Undoing (Lucky Lady Reverse Harems #1)

CLARA

W e’re at a different house now.

A smaller villa on another side of the county. Bill’s goons moved us the night before under the cover of darkness. Matty is still asleep, huddled under a plush white blanket. There’s a baby monitor, so I leave him to get some tea from the kitchen.

Laura stands guard outside. I can see her through the window above the sink.

“God-awful people,” I mutter as I pour a fresh jasmine brew into a mug.

It’s been a weird couple of days.

I’m having to balance between keeping my composure for my son and looking for a way out of this place. The villa is slightly smaller than the previous estate, but it’s still sprawling and complicated enough to make an escape rather difficult, especially since I don’t know the layout .

It’s also heavily guarded. It isn’t just Laura and her buddy Wyatt.

I counted at least five other big fellas in dark suits patrolling the hallways and the back garden.

There are surveillance cameras everywhere, and there is always a service staff member just around the corner, keeping an extra eye on me.

I look out at the sky, wondering where Carter and the guys are.

“They must be worried sick,” I whisper to myself.

Bill is so damn determined to get me out of my son’s life. I shudder at the thought until I hear heels clicking furiously through the main hallway. For a moment, my heart skips a beat, thinking it might be Margot. Maybe she’s come to get me out.

“Where is she?” Elizabeth’s voice echoes. “Where is that fat bitch?”

“Miss Elizabeth—” one of the guards tries to talk to her.

“Step back!” she barks. “Where is she?”

“The kitchen, miss.”

A moment later, the kitchen door swings open and Elizabeth charges in, practically foaming at the mouth in her elegant turquoise pencil skirt and matching top. I note the beige heels that clicked so loudly mere seconds ago. And then I see the untamed anger in her eyes.

“You’ve been nothing but a fucking pain in my side from the moment you crawled back into town,” she hisses.

“I take it you knew Bill was holding me and my son captive here then?” I calmly reply and set the mug down on the counter .

Every nerve ending in my body comes alive, my defense instincts kicking in.

Elizabeth takes an aggressive stance, her bony shoulders squared as she takes a step forward.

I’m not afraid of her, per se, but I am afraid of what might happen next.

There is nothing scarier than an unpredictable psychopath, and Elizabeth has checked most of the boxes in that particular area.

“Just take his money and leave,” she says. “You’re a pest, Clara. Your son will be better off.”

“You don’t actually believe I’d leave my son behind, given your efforts to get Shiloh back?” I promptly reply.

Her lips twist in rage. “Well, that’s not gonna happen anytime soon, thanks to Damon and your other boyfriends.”

“Where’s Bill?”

“Not here, as it turns out,” she scoffs. “Figures, the one time I needed his support and he’s out. But you, on the other hand, you’ve been keeping him busier than he should be, given the circumstances, so I’m taking executive action.”

“Executive action?”

“Yes. Take his money and leave. Today. By noon. We’ll take good care of Matty. I’m going to figure out another way to get Shiloh back,” she mutters, her gaze scanning the length of the kitchen counter.

I follow it and realize she’s eyeing the knives. It sends a terrifying shiver down my spine.

“Elizabeth, what happened? Why are you here?”

“Damon won, okay? He screwed me over, and I can’t get Shiloh back!” she snarls and slaps the counter. “Those assholes banded together and annihilated any shot I had in family court.”

I chuckle dryly. “You never really had a shot?—”

“See, this right here! This is what made you so insufferable, ever since we were kids!” Elizabeth shouts. “This know-it-all, I’m-smarter-than-you bullshit! I hated it then, and I hate it even more now.”

“Yet Damon chose me.” I land that with zero grace.

She doesn’t deserve any grace. She is complicit in all of this, and I am done trying to be the better person. I’m tired of taking the high road when people like her feel entitled to try and hurt me simply because they can.

“And where is Damon now?” Elizabeth asks, her eyes wide and sparkling. “Looking for you, and yet he has no idea where or how to find you. You’re fucked, Clara, and not in a good way. It’s what you get for trying to bite off more than you can chew. Bill will never let you take Matty away.”

“And Damon will never let you take Shiloh. So what’s your endgame? I thought Bill wanted Carter to raise my son in my absence.”

Elizabeth chuckles. “That’s just ridiculous. He may want that, but it’ll be Bill and me. We’ll be the ones taking care of Matty. We’ll get Shiloh, too.”

“Oh, so you plan on kidnapping her, too? You’ve lost your goddamn mind, you crazy bitch.”

“No, I actually have clarity for the first time,” she says and grabs one of the knives, pointing it at me.

“I wasted weeks trying to go through the legal channels, but Bill just took you and your kid. He takes what he wants. I should’ve picked up on that.

I should’ve learned that there’s no other way. ”

“What are you doing, Elizabeth?” My breaths are coming quicker, my pulse racing.

“Doing what nobody else has the balls to do. If you’re not going to leave willingly, I will make you leave.”

I bring my hands up in defense. “Elizabeth don’t do something you’ll regret. I’m pregnant.”

“You’re what?”

“Pregnant.”

She gasps. “Whose is it?”

I glance to the side and realize my hot tea is still within my reach. Reasoning with Elizabeth is clearly no longer an option.

“It doesn’t matter,” I tell her.

“Is it Damon’s?” Elizabeth croaks, torn between shock and rage. “Is it?”

“It doesn’t matter,” I insist.

“It is. No wonder he’s so motivated to keep Shiloh, to find you. He wants his happy little family,” Elizabeth mutters, briefly distracted by intrusive thoughts, but she quickly snaps back. “Well, he’s not getting any of it. I’ll get it all!”

“Please, Elizabeth?—”

“Leave now or I will kill you. It’s that simple. I’m tired of you, Damon, Carter, and Jace, I’m tired of all of you doing whatever the fuck you want like there aren’t any consequences. ”

I scoff, then give her wry smirk. “That’s rich, coming from you.”

She lunges at me with the knife, but I’m quicker as I hurl the hot tea right at her head. The mug hits her in the forehead, and she screams as the scalding liquid splashes all over her face, neck, and chest.

She drops the knife and cries out. I wrap an arm around her neck and put her in a chokehold, remembering all the times my brother and I used to play fight; he taught me some basic self-defense moves early on. I just never imagined I’d ever have to employ them.

Yet here I am, listening to Elizabeth’s ragged breathing as she winds down and eventually passes out against me.

“For all your jabs at my weight, look at you now, you scrawny-ass bitch,” I mutter as I drop her to the floor and take a deep breath.

Panic is quick to set in.

Elizabeth is down, but she will come to eventually. It doesn’t change my predicament; it only adds a layer of danger to an already dangerous situation. My time here has come to an end.