Chapter 7
The attack went public the next morning.
PREGNANT MOB WIFE FLEES AFTER EMOTIONAL BREAKDOWN
Elena stared at the headline on her phone screen.
Then she read the paragraph describing her miscarriages—private grief she’d shared with almost no one, now weaponized as evidence she was mentally unstable.
“They’re using my babies,” she whispered.
Juliana immediately began filing complaints.
Daniel traced the leak to three people with access to those medical records.
Then someone knocked on the townhouse door.
Elena checked the security camera.
Two photographers stood outside. A news van idled at the curb.
Her temporary address—known only to Juliana and Daniel—had been leaked.
“We’re leaving,” Daniel said.
Outside, camera flashes exploded like artillery fire.
“Mrs. Valemont, did your husband abandon you?”
“Are you being treated for psychiatric issues?”
“Is the baby even his?”
Elena stopped walking.
That last question hit so viciously that she almost turned around.
Daniel touched her elbow. “Don’t give them what they want.”
She got into the SUV.
By evening, she was in another temporary location—this one even more isolated, even more temporary.
Alone in the bedroom, Elena made the mistake of opening social media.
The comments were worse than the headlines.
Gold digger.
Crazy.
Probably trapped him with the pregnancy.
No wonder he cheated.
Someone wrote: After two miscarriages, she’s probably unstable.
Elena locked her phone.
Her daughter kicked, sensing her mother’s distress.
“I’m sorry,” Elena whispered, hands on her belly. “I’m so sorry you can feel this.”
Across the city, Marcus watched footage of reporters surrounding his wife and felt rage unlike anything he’d experienced in years.
“Get the car,” he told his driver.
Leonard appeared in his office doorway. “Where are you going?”
“To find Elena.”
“And give every camera in New York exactly what they want? You, playing the villain, chasing your pregnant wife through the streets?”
Marcus stopped.
Leonard stepped closer. “If Elena asked for space, respect it. Let her attorney protect her. Don’t make this worse.”
It sounded reasonable.
Leonard’s manipulation usually did.
Marcus slowly sat back down. “Find out who leaked her location.”
“Already working on it.”
May you like
Thirty minutes later, Leonard entered an empty conference room and deleted a text message.
Location confirmed. Media deployed.
