Chapter 4 - He Had Been Preparing for Me
By the time I got back to Grandma’s house, Daniel had the answer printed on three pages.
Ryan had wired thirty thousand dollars to a law firm eight days before he threw me out. Another ten thousand went to a private investigations company. The remaining two thousand had been withdrawn in cash.
“He hired a divorce attorney before he told me we had a problem,” I said.
Daniel nodded. “And possibly an investigator.”
“For what?”
“To build a case.”
“A custody case?”
“That would be my concern.”
As if summoned by the words, the doorbell rang.
A process server stood outside.
Ryan had filed for divorce.
He was asking for temporary possession of the house, control of marital accounts, and primary physical custody of Sophie.
The filing said I was emotionally unstable.
It said I had abandoned the marital home.
It said I had displayed “erratic behavior” after childbirth.
“He kicked me out.”
“I know,” Daniel said.
“He froze the card.”
“I know.”
“He told me to leave.”
“I know.”
“And now he says I abandoned him?”
Grandma placed a hand over mine. “Anger later. Evidence now.”
We spent the afternoon building a timeline. Texts. Bank records. Photos of my suitcase. Gas-station receipt showing the declined card. The officer’s incident number from the house.
Then Daniel asked about the hidden cameras.
“Could they help me?”
“They could. But they could also contain material Ryan intends to use against you.”
I remembered crying from exhaustion and one argument when I broke a coffee mug in the sink.
Tiny moments stripped of context could be turned into anything.
That evening my younger brother, Jason, called.
“Mom says Grandma is trying to destroy the family.”
“Mom stole from me.”
“She says the money was for you.”
“Then why didn’t I know it existed?”
Jason went quiet.
“I don’t know.”
“Ask her why Ryan got forty-two thousand dollars last week.”
He exhaled. “Emily, there’s something else.”
“What?”
“I wasn’t supposed to tell you.”
“Jason.”
“Ryan came to Mom and Dad’s house two months ago. They were all in Dad’s office. I heard your name.”
“What were they talking about?”
“I only caught one sentence.”
“Which sentence?”
May you like
Jason lowered his voice.
“Mom said, ‘Once the baby is with Ryan, Emily won’t have leverage anymore.’”
