Chapter 5 - The Glass Gate
I didn't flinch. I stood up from the rocking chair, walked calmly down the hallway, and stopped six feet from the heavy glass front door.
Declan was standing on the porch.
His navy suit jacket was gone, his tie was loosened at the collar, and his hair was uncharacteristically disheveled from the wind. He tried his key in the lock again, twisting it frantically until he realized it wouldn't even slide into the keyway.
He slammed his fist against the reinforced glass.
"Eleanor!" he shouted, his voice muffled by the thick double-pane glass. "Open the door! We need to talk! You can't just lock me out of my own house!"
My mother moved to step into the hallway, but I held up a hand, stopping her. I walked right up to the glass, separated from him by less than two inches of tempered window.
"You don't live here anymore, Declan," I said. The intercom speaker beside the door carried my voice clearly to the porch.
"Ellie, listen to me!" he pleaded, pressing his palms against the glass. Tears—whether real or carefully manufactured—shone in his eyes. "Sloan is gone. I cut all ties with her! She set the whole thing up. She told me the lot was owned by her family and that we were just dropping you off to meet her uncle, who had the dresser! I didn't know she was going to lock the doors!"
"You spoke on the audio, Declan," I reminded him coldly. "You talked about the insurance claim and Arthur's retainer. I heard your voice."
His face contorted in desperation. "I was following her script! She threatened to ruin my firm if I didn't go along with it! She had leverage on me!"
"You chose her over your daughter," I said.
"I love my daughter!" he screamed through the speaker, hitting the door again. "She’s my blood, Eleanor! You can't keep me from my child!"
"You left your child in a rusted scrap yard in forty-degree weather," I said, my voice ice-cold. "You didn't care if she survived the night as long as you got your payout."
A black sedan pulled into the driveway behind his SUV. Two uniformed officers from the Bellevue Police Department stepped out, their high-visibility vests bright against the gray afternoon. Arthur had filed the official emergency restraining order twenty minutes prior.
Declan turned, his eyes wide with horror as he saw the officers walking up the driveway.
"Mr. Vance?" the lead officer called out, keeping his hands casually near his belt. "We have a temporary protection order served by the King County Family Court. You need to step away from the door and step off the property immediately."
"This is my home!" Declan yelled, turning back to the officers. "My wife is inside! She's having a high-risk pregnancy!"
"Sir," the second officer said, his tone turning sharp. "Step off the porch now, or you will be placed under arrest for criminal trespass."
Declan looked back at me through the glass door one last time. The arrogant, controlling man who had spent six months gaslighting me in my own kitchen was completely gone. In his place was a pathetic, terrified man watching his comfortable life dissolve in real time.
He slowly raised his hands and stepped down off the porch.
May you like
I watched through the window as the officers escorted him down the driveway to his car, making him sign the protective order on the hood of his SUV before ordering him to drive away.
When his taillights vanished around the corner, I let out a long, deep breath, turning back to the quiet warmth of my home.
