Chapter 1 - The Yellow Cardigan
The courtroom in Hennepin County, Minnesota, fell completely silent as Clara Linwood stood beside her attorney.
She had walked into court prepared to walk away with absolutely nothing.
Across the aisle sat Gabriel Linwood, her husband of seven years, dressed in an expensive charcoal suit and wearing no wedding ring.
Sitting beside him was Samantha Drake, the woman he had been secretly seeing behind Clara's back for over a year.
Samantha looked perfectly comfortable and almost entirely proud of the horrific situation.
She smiled a cruel smile while Clara stood there exhausted from countless sleepless nights, carrying both a baby and the heavy burden of a collapsed marriage.
Judge Beatrice Holloway looked down at the official divorce petition resting on the wooden bench.
"Mrs. Linwood, your petition states that you are requesting an immediate divorce and surrendering your claim to the marital home, the savings account, both vehicles, and Mr. Linwood's business shares," the judge read aloud.
"Is that correct?"
Everyone in the packed courtroom waited with absolute, bated breath for her answer.
Clara's dedicated attorney looked incredibly tense, but Clara bravely raised her chin.
"Yes, Your Honor, I don't want any marital property, he can have absolutely all of it."
A shocked murmur immediately spread through the entire courtroom.
Samantha laughed aloud, a sharp and unmistakable sound that made it clear exactly what she thought of Clara's selfless decision.
Judge Holloway stopped her immediately, firmly threatening to have her escorted out by the armed guards.
Clara turned toward Gabriel and stated that she only wanted her unborn baby to be far away from his toxic lies.
Gabriel suddenly rose from his expensive leather seat, accusing Clara of being overly emotional and trying to make him look like a monster.
The stern judge immediately ordered him to sit back down and remain silent.
Clara looked straight into Gabriel's eyes and told him that he had already taken the only things that truly mattered to her.
Then Judge Holloway closed the thick legal folder in front of her and stood up from her chair.
The judge explained that before the hearing began, she had encountered a little girl crying near the vending machines outside the courtroom doors.
She said the little girl had whispered something terrifying about what her father and the mean lady had done that very morning.
Gabriel's arrogant expression changed immediately, and Samantha's smug smile completely disappeared.
The judge turned toward the massive bailiff and ordered the young girl to be brought into the courtroom immediately.
The heavy rear doors opened, and a little girl wearing a bright yellow cardigan walked slowly inside.
She was clutching a worn, faded stuffed rabbit tightly against her small chest.
Clara gasped loudly when she saw Violet, Gabriel's six-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.
Violet pointed her small, violently trembling finger directly at her own father.
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"Daddy and Samantha put crushed white pills in Clara's prenatal vitamins this morning," Violet whispered into the silent room.
Clara felt her blood run completely cold as a sharp, agonizing cramp suddenly ripped through her pregnant belly.
