Chapter 5 - Divorce Papers in the Snow
Snow fell heavily as Nicholas carried Mackenzie down the front steps.
She clung to his neck, crying into his coat.
Behind them, the front door remained open. Warm light spilled across the driveway while the family watched from inside.
Nicholas’s briefcase slipped from his hand.
It landed in the snow, opening beside the manila divorce folder.
Several documents scattered across the driveway.
Frank sat on the steps with a satisfied expression.
“Best Christmas gift this family ever got.”
Nicholas continued toward his truck.
Isabella called after him.
“I already gave you the papers. Just leave.”
Mackenzie lifted her tear-streaked face.
“Grandpa said to go live with my loser father.”
Nicholas stopped.
He could see his daughter’s breath in the cold air. Her red velvet Christmas dress was covered by only a thin white sweater.
He removed his overcoat and wrapped it around her.
Then he turned back.
Every person in the doorway expected him to beg.
Nicholas had begged before.
He had begged Isabella to attend counseling.
He had begged Frank to stop humiliating him in front of Mackenzie.
He had begged the family to review their financial records before the audit became irreversible.
He would never beg again.
“You’ve all been living off the man you call a loser,” he said.
Frank laughed.
“Is that your big speech?”
One of Isabella’s cousins noticed the Northstar letterhead inside the open briefcase. He bent down and lifted a document.
His eyes widened.
“Uncle Frank…”
Frank ignored him.
Nicholas picked up the briefcase and placed the papers inside.
“Check your inboxes at eight a.m.”
Isabella crossed her arms.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means I’m done protecting people who hurt my daughter.”
He placed Mackenzie inside the truck and fastened her seat belt.
When he climbed behind the wheel, she was still crying.
“Daddy?”
“Yes, sweetheart?”
“Are we poor?”
Nicholas’s heart tightened.
“No.”
“Then why do they call you a loser?”
“Because some people think a person’s value comes from what he shows.”
“What does it come from?”
“What he does when no one is clapping.”
Mackenzie looked toward the mansion.
“Mommy didn’t come with us.”
Nicholas did not know how to explain that absence.
So he reached across the seat and held her small hand.
“We’re going somewhere warm.”
He drove away as the mansion disappeared behind the snowfall.
Twenty minutes later, his phone rang through the truck’s speaker.
Evelyn Shaw’s voice filled the cabin.
“Security is ready at the Northstar Lodge.”
“Thank you.”
“And the board approved every suspension.”
Nicholas looked at the dashboard clock.
7:32 p.m.
“Schedule delivery for eight tomorrow morning.”
“Are you certain?”
Nicholas looked at Mackenzie, who had fallen asleep holding his hand.
“Yes.”
He had spent years sacrificing his dignity to preserve her family.
That family had just thrown her into the snow.
May you like
There was nothing left to preserve.
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