Chapter 3
The paramedics took me to Baylor University Medical Center.
Hannah rode with me.
She held my hand the entire way.
“Stay with me,” she kept saying.
“I’m here.”
“You scared me.”
“I scared myself.”
The baby’s heartbeat filled the exam room twenty minutes later.
Fast.
Steady.
Alive.
I closed my eyes and cried for the first time that day.
Hannah pressed her forehead to my shoulder.
“She’s okay.”
“She’s okay,” I repeated.
A nurse cleaned a small cut on my elbow.
A doctor checked my side.
No early labor.
No internal bleeding.
But the bruise forming across my ribs looked ugly.
The doctor’s voice changed when she asked, “Did your husband do this?”
I looked at Hannah.
Then back at the doctor.
“Yes.”
She nodded once and called a hospital social worker.
An hour later, Agent Monroe arrived.
She stood near the foot of my bed with a folder in her hands.
“I’m sorry to disturb you.”
“Tell me about the envelope.”
Her eyes shifted to Hannah.
“She can stay,” I said.
Agent Monroe opened the folder.
“The envelope found in Chloe Bennett’s purse contained a draft custody petition.”
My mouth went dry.
“For my baby?”
“Yes.”
Hannah whispered, “She’s not even born.”
Agent Monroe continued.
“It alleges you are mentally unstable, financially reckless, and physically dangerous.”
I laughed once.
It hurt my ribs.
“Of course it does.”
“There was also a hospital bracelet.”
“She isn’t born yet.”
“It had a name printed on it.”
Agent Monroe hesitated.
I knew before she said it.
“Vance Male Infant.”
The room tilted.
My daughter.
They had already erased her.
Hannah stood.
“That witch.”
Agent Monroe’s face remained calm, but her eyes were not.
“We believe the plan was to force a medical emergency, challenge your fitness immediately after birth, and transfer guardianship influence to Julian and his parents.”
I touched my belly.
My baby kicked.
“They wanted my daughter gone because Chloe was having a boy.”
“It appears they wanted control of both children,” Agent Monroe said.
“Why?”
She placed another document on the tray table.
A life insurance policy.
A trust clause.
A board succession plan.
Arthur Vance had built his empire on one rule.
Voting shares passed through male heirs unless challenged by a surviving spouse or court-appointed guardian.
My baby, as Julian’s legal child, complicated everything.
Chloe’s son made their plan simple.
Hannah covered her mouth.
“They were going to take your baby.”
Agent Monroe said, “We are working to prevent that.”
I looked at her.
“No. We are going to end it.”
That night, I was admitted for observation.
At 11:04 PM, my phone buzzed from an unknown number.
A photo appeared.
It showed Chloe sitting in my baby’s nursery.
Her hand rested on the crib.
May you like
The message said:
You should have stayed quiet. Now we take both babies.
