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My heart started to race as I watched the door to my classroom open and Mrs. Haas walked in. She gave me a smile but her eyes told me something was very wrong.
“Sure, Mrs. Haas walked in so I’m on my way.”
Hanging up, I called out, “Shave and a haircut.”
“Two bits!” the class said as one.
All eyes were on me. “Class, I have to run to the office, but Mrs. Haas is here to keep everyone working on their projects. I want you to continue drawing, and when I get back, we’ll chat about them. Then it’s story time.”
The kids nodded; some responded with yes ma’ams. Making my way past Mrs. Haas, she grabbed my wrist and pulled me outside the classroom.
“I feel you need a warning about what you’re walking into.”
Swallowing hard, I said, “Okay.”
Did the school find out I was pregnant? There was no way…unless someone saw me buying the test or someone at the doctor’s office spilled the beans.
No, that wasn’t it. What if Chloe voiced her thoughts about a baby. Shit!
“Chloe’s mother is in the office…making a scene.”
I stared at her, unsure I had heard correctly. My hands covered my mouth and dread hit the pit of my stomach. “What?”
“I’ve already called Steed, but he didn’t answer. I remembered from Chloe’s paperwork that the mother was not allowed any contact, so I looked it up and I was right. I’m so sorry, Paxton. We didn’t know what else to do. I wasn’t sure y’all wanted a scene with the police.”
Dropping my hands to my sides, I took in a deep breath. “No, you did the right thing. I’ll be right back.”
She nodded and went back to my classroom, disappearing on the other side of the door.
I should have been more freaked out, but a part of me was beyond pissed off that that woman had the nerve to show her face at Chloe’s school. I took off at a fast pace down the hall, my high heels clicking on the tile floor and my heart pounding in my ears.
Walking into the office, Marge, the receptionist, pointed to the conference room Mr. Hines used.
“Marge, call Mitchell and tell him what’s going on. If you can’t get a hold of him, call the police.”
“Oh, okay. Sure…right.”
I wasn’t sure where in the hell I was getting my balls from, but I pushed the door open and walked in like I freaking owned the room.
There she sat. The woman who had been married to Steed. Who birthed his child. She was beautiful. Her blonde hair was pulled into a neat bun. Her perfectly done make-up was a tad on the heavy side, but she was able to pull it off. Blood red nails tapped on the conference table but paused when I walked in. Her eyes moved over me as hate oozed off her body.
“Kim,” I said with a curt nod.
Her eyes squinted then opened wide. She was surprised I had used her first name. She also recognized me. Steed had told me he carried a picture of me in his wallet, and she had found it and had threatened to burn it.
“You must be the whore who my husband pined over all those years.”
Mr. Hines stood and I held up my hand for him to calm down.
“I don’t know why you’re here, but you need to leave before I tell the office to call the police.”
She lifted a brow. “You’re not even going to respond to me calling you a whore?”
“You were served with a restraining order to say away from Chloe.”
Kim stood, trying to intimidate me. “She’s my daughter, so back the fuck off, slut.”
“That will be enough of the name calling! I’m having Marge call the police.”
Mr. Hines stormed out of the conference room. I knew they didn’t want to cause a scene, but a parent with a restraining order at the school should have been an immediate phone call to police. That was something I intended on taking up with Mr. Hines. For now, though, I had a bitch to deal with.
Leaning my hands on the table, I stared her in the eyes. “Let me remind you about how you signed over all of your parental rights to Chloe. You have no rights to her. None.”
Her eye twitched. “He lied to me. The moment I found out that asshole was back in Texas and living on his rich daddy’s plantation, I took the first flight out. I want him back, and I want Chloe back. I’ve changed my mind.”
I snickered. “First off you twit, it’s a ranch, not a plantation. This isn’t Gone with the Wind. Second, he doesn’t want you and neither does Chloe.”
“We’ll see. I have no intentions of leaving.”
This woman had made Steed and Chloe’s life a miserable hell all those years. Now that she saw money again, her delusional mind thought she could walk back into their lives as if nothing had happened.
