Chapter 7
The doctor was shaking his head, looking at Evalina all worried. “Girl, you’re burning up, like 104°F. You trying to push yourself too far or what?”
Evalina barely had the strength, but she reached for her phone. It was after nine, and Hugo had been blowing up her phone. She could just picture him, all huffed up and ready to bust. She hit redial, fast as lightning.
Sure enough, as soon as he picked up, he was all gruff. “Evalina, it’s past nine. Where are you at?”
She glanced at the IV, feeling herself all shaky. Moving even a bit made her head spin. “I don’t think I can make it today, Hugo.”
“Evalina, you messing with me?” His voice went even rougher.
“I’m not… I’m in the hospital, Hugo…” she managed to say.
“Dead? If you ain’t dead, get over here and finish those papers. Crawl if you gotta!” His words were cold as ice, with no sympathy. It was like he had a grip on her throat, even through the phone.
Her heart sank down to her toes as she thought, ‘Get there as long as I’m alive, huh? All I’ve been is a roadblock to him, right? Just in the way of his dream future with Olive.”
She tried to say something, but Hugo cut her off. “No more of these lousy excuses. You know they don’t fly with me.”
Evalina let out a soft chuckle. “Guess you got me, huh?”
“You…” Hugo’s hand clenched around the phone. Then he thought, ‘As expected, she’s really pulling this stunt…
Evalina spoke up, her voice deceptively calm, “You’re in such a hurry to end this, huh? Well, the divorce terms we agreed on? They don’t cut it for me now. Gotta tweak them.”
“Tweak what?” Hugo questioned, keeping his cool.
“I’m looking at 10 million. Hand that over, and I’ll get that divorce paper signed in a flash,” Evalina said, a smirk tugging at her lips.
“10 million?” Hugo’s voice had a hint of annoyance. “You’ve got some guts, Evalina. You really think you’re worth that much?”
Evalina chuckled, a bitter edge to it, “Worth it? Nah, not even close. But what about Olive? Is she worth it either? If you won’t fork over the cash, I’ll bide my time. But I ain’t sure Olive’s got the luxury of time.
“Once her belly starts showing and you’re still hitched to me, word’s gonna get out about the baby you had with her. The whole world will know about your little secret.”
“Evalina!” Hugo’s voice trembled with rage.
Evalina’s laughter grew louder, tears streaming down her face. “I ain’t got all day. Get me ten percent of that money today, or I’ll start spilling the beans about us. Don’t mess with me, Hugo. I don’t play by the rule.”
She laughed wildly and hung up the phone. She knew she’d just shattered the last shred of connection they’d had as husband and wife over the past three years. Actually, maybe it was already gone; she’d just been kidding herself. And now… she was pushing herself to let go.
