Chapter 3
The man froze.
Every eye in the chapel turned toward him.
Rebecca stepped in front of me.
“Daniel, stop humiliating everyone.”
I moved around her.
“Who is he here for?”
Her attorney swallowed.
“This is a private matter.”
“My daughter is involved. Nothing about this is private now.”
Claire handed Emily to her husband and came to my side.
My sister was small, but when she was angry, she looked taller than anyone in the room.
“Open the folder,” she said.
The attorney looked at Rebecca.
That was all the answer I needed.
I took one step closer.
“If those papers have my daughter’s name on them, you will open that folder before the police open it for you.”
Rebecca’s father stood.
“This is absurd. You cannot threaten a lawyer in a church.”
I did not look at him.
“Call the police then.”
Rebecca grabbed my arm.
“Daniel, please.”
There it was.
Not anger now.
Fear.
Real fear.
I pulled away.
The attorney opened the folder with shaking hands.
Inside were forms.
Enrollment documents.
Medical releases.
Transport authorization.
My name was printed on several lines.
My signature appeared at the bottom.
But it was not my signature.
It was close.
Too close.
But the D leaned wrong.
The final stroke cut upward instead of down.
I felt sick.
Claire saw it too.
“Daniel,” she whispered.
I held up the page.
“You forged my signature?”
Rebecca shook her head quickly.
“No. You signed those. You don’t remember because you were overwhelmed.”
“I remember every paper I signed for my daughter.”
Vivian stepped forward.
“Daniel, be reasonable. The child needs structure.”
“My daughter needs safety.”
“She needs discipline,” Vivian snapped. “Rebecca has spent two years competing with a dead woman and a spoiled child.”
The room exploded in whispers.
Emily whimpered behind me.
That sound made my decision easy.
I pulled out my phone and called 911.
Rebecca lunged for it.
Claire blocked her.
“Touch him and I will drop you in front of your guests.”
Rebecca stared at her.
The operator answered.
I gave the address.
I said there was an attempted unlawful transfer of custody involving a minor, possible forged documents, and threats made to my child.
Rebecca began crying.
Loudly.
Beautifully.
Like she had rehearsed.
“Daniel, how could you do this to me?”
I looked at her wedding dress.
At the lace sleeves.
At the pearl veil.
At the woman who had smiled at my daughter while planning to remove her from my life.
“How could you do this to Emily?”
She wiped her eyes.
“I was trying to give us a chance.”
“There is no us without her.”
“That is the problem,” she snapped.
There it was.
The truth.
Ugly.
Bare.
Alive.
She realized too late she had said it out loud.
Guests began standing.
Some moved toward the doors.
Others stared at Rebecca like they had never seen her before.
My father stepped beside me.
His face was gray.
“Daniel, I didn’t know about the papers.”
I wanted to believe him.
But I could not deal with that yet.
“Then help me now.”
He nodded once.
Then he turned and told the chapel staff to lock the side exits until the police arrived.
Rebecca screamed.
“You cannot imprison people.”
“No,” my father said. “But we can make sure forged documents don’t disappear.”
The attorney sat down heavily in the back pew.
Vivian rushed to him, whispering.
Claire filmed everything on her phone.
When the police arrived, Emily was in my arms again.
An officer asked who made the complaint.
“I did,” I said.
Rebecca stepped forward.
“This is a misunderstanding. My fiancé is grieving and unstable.”
I laughed once.
It was not a happy sound.
“Former fiancé.”
The officer looked from me to Rebecca.
Then to Emily.
Then to the papers.
“Sir,” he said to the attorney. “Set the folder down.”
May you like
Rebecca’s face went white.
And for the first time since I found Emily behind the chapel, I felt the floor come back under my feet.
