Chapter 4 - The Custody Battle Begins
Three days later.
The high-rise office of Boyd & Associates overlooked the gray, churning waters of Lake Michigan.
I sat in a leather armchair in Kenneth’s conference room, wearing a simple cream sweater and dark trousers. Resting in a portable bassinet beside my chair was Leo. He was sleeping peacefully, his tiny chest rising and falling rhythmically, his little fist curled near his cheek.
Looking at him, my heart felt a strange, terrifying mixture of fierce love and profound grief. He was my biological son—the DNA test results had come back late yesterday afternoon confirming a 99.99% maternal match. He carried my blood, my genetics, my late father’s features.
But he had spent the first year of his life in a house filled with lies, raised by a woman who was currently sitting in a county jail cell awaiting trial on six federal felony counts.
The conference room door opened, and Kenneth stepped inside, holding two cups of black coffee. He set one down in front of me and pulled out a chair.
"Connor filed an emergency petition this morning," Kenneth said, getting straight to the point.
I took a slow sip of my coffee. "On what grounds?"
"He’s claiming 'psychological parenthood,'" Kenneth replied, shaking his head. "His new attorney—some aggressive tabloid lawyer named Arthur Vance, who happens to be Melinda’s distant cousin—is arguing that even if Connor isn't the biological father, he acted as the primary caregiver for the first twelve months of Leo's life. They’re asking for shared legal custody and visitation rights."
"Shared custody?" I let out a sharp, cold laugh. "With the man who mocked me in a hospital corridor? The man who helped Melinda spend my stolen money?"
"I know it’s absurd, Kirsten," Kenneth said gently. "But family courts in Illinois can be unpredictable when it comes to the 'best interests of the child' doctrine if a parent can prove an established bond. Connor is going to play the victim. He’s going to claim he was an innocent bystander who was duped by Melinda, and that taking Leo away from him entirely will cause the child severe psychological trauma."
I looked down at Leo. He stirred slightly in his sleep, letting out a soft sigh.
"He doesn't care about Leo," I whispered, my voice tight with suppressed anger. "Connor only cares about control. If he loses Leo, he loses the last piece of leverage he has over me. He loses the story he told himself—that he was the good guy who got his happy ending."
"Which is why we aren't just going to fight his petition," Kenneth said, pulling out a fresh stack of documents. "We’re going to crush it. I’ve obtained a subpoena for Connor’s personal phone records, financial statements, and search history for the past eighteen months."
"What did you find?"
Kenneth smiled—a sharp, wolfish grin.
"Connor wasn't a blind victim, Kirsten," Kenneth said softly. "Two months before Melinda gave birth, Connor executed a quiet transfer of $450,000 from your joint marital account into an offshore entity in Belize registered under Melinda’s maiden name. He knew she was getting money from somewhere. He didn't ask questions because he was using that money to buy his custom sports car and pay off his gambling debts."
I stared at Kenneth. "Gambling debts?"
"Connor owes $200,000 to a private syndicate in north Chicago," Kenneth revealed. "He wasn't playing the happy suburban father, Kirsten. He was using Leo as a shield to keep his creditors from realizing he was completely broke. If he loses custody of Leo, his trust-fund image evaporates, and his creditors will come knocking."
I leaned back in my chair, looking out the floor-to-ceiling window at the gray lake.
"He tried to destroy me in front of my colleagues," I said quietly. "He tried to make me feel small in the very building where I save lives every single day."
"So what do you want to do?" Kenneth asked.
May you like
I turned back to look at my son.
"Call Arthur Vance," I said, my voice steady and cold. "Tell him we're agreeing to a emergency custody hearing tomorrow morning. And tell Connor to bring his financial records. All of them."
