Chapter 4 - The Papers Had Been Prepared in Advance
Dominic called his attorney that evening.
Not tomorrow.
Not when he had “calmed down.”
Immediately.
He put the children in the den with cartoons and sandwiches while he stood in the hallway, the forged guardianship packet in his hand, explaining everything in a clipped, controlled voice.
His attorney, Nora Patel, listened without interrupting.
When he finished, she asked only one question.
“Do you have the original documents in your possession right now?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Photograph every page. Front and back. Send them to me and lock the originals away.”
He did exactly that.
The packet was worse than he had realized.
There wasn’t just one forged form.
There were six.
A temporary guardianship request.
A medical authorization.
A school records release.
A statement claiming Dominic’s work schedule had made him “unable to provide adequate daily supervision.”
A handwritten note describing Lily as “emotionally unstable and oppositional.”
And, most chilling of all, a draft travel plan from Charleston to Knoxville, where Diane’s older sister lived.
Departure:
6:30 p.m.
Same day.
That evening.
Had Dominic come home twenty minutes later, his mother might have been gone with at least one of his children.
Or tried to be.
He photographed every page.
Then he sat at the kitchen table, staring at the images on his phone, piecing together the intention behind them.
Diane had not lashed out for no reason.
She had been trying to force a child into obedience before taking her away.
That was why the suitcase had been packed.
That was why Lily had been told the papers already said yes.
Diane had expected those papers to protect her.
To make everything look official if anyone questioned her.
Dominic forwarded the images to Nora and received a reply almost immediately.
Do not let Diane leave with anything important. Do not leave the children alone with her again. I’m drafting emergency notices now.
He read the message twice.
Then he stood up and walked toward the guest suite where his mother had been staying.
For the first time in his life, he did not see the woman who had raised him.
May you like
He saw a threat inside his house.
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