Emma looked up at her with innocent curiosity, and I gently told my daughter to go sit on the bench with my mom, who was waiting nearby. Once Emma was out of earshot, I turned back to Jessica.

She looked me up and down with barely concealed contempt. “Finally lost your husband, huh? You can’t blame anyone but yourself. Should’ve given him a son instead of just a daughter.”

The sexism of that statement would have made me laugh if it wasn’t so pathetic. This was 2026, and she was acting like we lived in some medieval kingdom where only male heirs mattered.

I smiled calmly at her, watching her preen with self-satisfaction. My eyes dropped to her belly, then back to her face. Without saying a word, I reached into my purse and pulled out a folded document. I’d been carrying it for weeks, waiting for the right moment.

I held it up in front of her face.

It was a promissory note—a legal document showing that Derek had borrowed $1 million from a private lender to purchase that luxury condo. One million dollars at 8% interest, with payments of $7,500 per month for the next fifteen years.

Jessica’s eyes widened as she scanned the document. Her face went from smug to confused to horrified in a matter of seconds.

“What… what is this?” she stammered.

“That’s the loan your baby daddy took out to buy you that condo,” I said sweetly. “One million dollars in debt. I thought you should know what you’re getting into.”

Her hands started shaking. She looked from the paper to me to Derek, who had just walked out of the courthouse and frozen when he saw us together.

“DEREK!” she shrieked, her voice echoing across the courthouse plaza. “You borrowed ONE MILLION DOLLARS to buy that condo? Are you INSANE? You expect me to help you pay this back?!”

Derek looked like a deer in headlights. “Jess, baby, calm down. It’s an investment. The property value will—”

“Investment?! You’re drowning in debt! I thought you were successful! I thought you had money!”

People were starting to stare. A security guard glanced over, making sure the situation wasn’t getting out of hand.

“I do have money, I just needed to borrow for the down payment—” Derek was scrambling, lying even now.

“The down payment?!” Jessica’s voice went even higher. “This says you borrowed the FULL PURCHASE PRICE! You don’t have ANY money, do you? It’s all been a lie!”

“Jess, please, let’s talk about this privately—”

“NO!” She was practically screaming now, her face red. “I can’t believe I fell for this! You’re just some broke middle-manager playing rich guy! You think I’m stupid enough to tie myself to someone drowning in debt?”

Then she said something that made Derek’s face go completely white.

“You know what? I’m done. This baby isn’t even yours anyway.”

The silence that followed was deafening. Even the people who’d been pretending not to watch openly stared now.

“What?” Derek’s voice was barely a whisper.

Jessica laughed bitterly. “You really thought I’d let myself get pregnant by you? I’m not an idiot, Derek. This baby is Marcus’s—my ex-boyfriend’s. I just needed someone to play daddy and pay the bills. I thought you actually had money, but you’re just a broke loser pretending to be something you’re not.”