Chapter 7 - THE MISSING PHONE
Brooke swore the phone had been stolen.
The police weren’t convinced.
Neither was I.
The condo showed no forced entry.
No broken lock.
No damaged windows.
Nothing else was missing.
Not jewelry.
Not cash.
Not electronics.
Only Brooke’s phone.
“How convenient,” Caroline said.
The next morning, Jason filed for emergency custody.
His petition accused me of being violent.
Unstable.
Manipulative.
He claimed I had assaulted him without warning and removed Lily from the family home.
I sat in Caroline’s office reading every line.
“He’s calling me dangerous.”
Caroline shrugged.
“He has to explain the three slaps somehow.”
“I shouldn’t have hit him.”
“No.”
She looked at me directly.
“You shouldn’t have.”
The answer surprised me.
“You’re not going to defend it?”
“I’m your lawyer.”
She closed the file.
“Not your cheerleader.”
I respected her more for that.
“We don’t hide bad facts.”
She tapped the petition.
“We put them in context.”
Jason had watched his mother hit Lily.
He minimized it.
He had encouraged Diane.
Then I reacted.
Badly.
But one bad reaction did not erase three years of evidence.
The custody hearing happened two days later.
Jason arrived in a navy suit.
Diane sat behind him wearing a soft beige sweater and looking like somebody’s wounded grandmother.
Brooke held tissues.
Robert sat in the back.
He smiled at me.
That smile made my skin crawl.
Jason’s attorney spoke first.
He painted me as volatile.
Then Caroline played the video.
The courtroom changed.
Diane’s slap echoed from the speaker.
Lily screamed.
Jason’s voice followed.
“She needs to learn sometime.”
Jason’s attorney stopped taking notes.
The judge looked over her glasses.
“Mr. Bennett.”
Jason swallowed.
“Yes, Your Honor?”
“Did you say that?”
“It was taken out of context.”
“What context makes that sentence appropriate immediately before a two-year-old child is struck?”
Jason had no answer.
Then Diane testified.
That was a disaster.
Her attorney tried to frame the slap as an accident.
Diane couldn’t help herself.
“She was being bratty.”
The judge leaned forward.
“The child is two.”
“Exactly.”
Diane crossed her arms.
“That’s when you teach them.”
Caroline didn’t even need to cross-examine her for long.
By the end of the hearing, the judge issued temporary orders.
Lily remained with me.
Jason received supervised visitation.
Diane was prohibited from contact.
When the judge read that final part, Diane exploded.
“You can’t keep me from my granddaughter!”
The bailiff stepped toward her.
The judge’s voice hardened.
“Sit down.”
Diane did.
Barely.
Outside court, Jason caught up with me.
“Emily.”
I kept walking.
“Please.”
I stopped.
He looked exhausted.
For the first time, I saw something that almost looked like fear.
“Mom is losing it.”
“That’s not my problem.”
“She barely sleeps.”
“Still not my problem.”
“She says you’re taking Lily away forever.”
“I’m protecting her.”
Jason lowered his voice.
“Robert is angry.”
That stopped me.
I turned.
“Why do I care?”
“You should.”
“Is that another threat?”
“No.”
He looked over his shoulder.
Robert was twenty feet away.
Watching.
Jason whispered, “You need to stop looking at the money.”
My heartbeat quickened.
“What money?”
Jason’s face went pale.
He had said too much.
“Jason.”
He backed away.
“Forget I said anything.”
I grabbed his sleeve.
“What money?”
Robert called from behind him.
“Jason.”
Jason froze.
Robert smiled.
“Come on.”
Jason pulled away from me.
That night, Marcus found a wire transfer.
Four hundred and eighty thousand dollars.
The sender was a company tied to Robert.
The recipient was an account bearing my name.
May you like
An account I had never opened.
And the transfer had happened the day after Lily was born.
