Chapter 5 - The Truth Richard Hadn't Expected Clara to Find
Arthur and Richard did not receive emergency custody.
The petition had been filed.
That did not mean Gigi was removed from her mother.
Dana explained the process carefully because Clara’s fear kept trying to outrun reality.
“There is no order changing custody today.”
Clara held Gigi tighter.
“Can they stop us moving?”
“They can ask.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“No order currently stops you.”
The preliminary hearing was scheduled before Clara’s planned move.
Dana began building the response.
Daycare records.
Pediatrician records.
Employment records.
Clara’s counseling attendance, disclosed only to the extent Clara and her attorney decided was useful.
Housing information.
Childcare plans.
Most importantly, evidence challenging Arthur’s behavior log.
Then Melissa from daycare called.
“I found something you should see.”
Arthur had sent an email to the daycare’s general address in March.
He described himself as Gigi’s uncle and said the family was “tracking escalating behaviors for medical purposes.”
He asked staff to notify him directly about crying, hitting, food refusal, or separation problems.
Melissa had declined and told him only a parent could authorize that communication.
Clara checked the date.
March 7.
Four days before Richard claimed he and Arthur first discussed guardianship.
She called Richard.
“Why was Arthur collecting behavior information before you hired the lawyer?”
Silence.
“Dad?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
“You paid the attorney.”
“That doesn’t mean I knew every call Arthur made.”
Clara looked at the petition.
“You said this started because you became concerned about the move.”
“It did.”
“I hadn’t even interviewed yet on March 7.”
Richard did not answer.
Clara’s pulse changed.
Her first interview with Oak Park had been March 12.
Only three people knew about the opportunity before then.
Sarah.
Her former supervisor.
And Richard.
Clara had mentioned it casually after dinner in February.
She remembered his reaction now.
Chicago?
That’s pretty far.
Then he changed the subject.
“Dad.”
Richard sighed.
“I told Arthur.”
“When?”
“Late February.”
“Why?”
“Because I was upset.”
“And what did he say?”
“That we needed to think realistically.”
“About what?”
“What happens to Gigi if you keep making decisions while you’re still grieving.”
Clara closed her eyes.
There it was.
Not Arthur discovering a problem.
Richard bringing him one.
“You started this.”
“No.”
“You told him about Chicago before I even interviewed.”
“I was scared.”
“So you asked Arthur to investigate me?”
“I asked him whether there was anything we could do if you tried to take her away.”
Take her away.
Clara sat completely still.
Gigi was not Richard’s child.
She had never been Richard’s child.
Yet in his mind, Clara moving with her own daughter had become a taking.
Richard’s voice broke.
“I already lost Matt.”
Clara swallowed.
Matt had become another son to him.
“I lost your mother.”
Clara looked down.
Her mother had died five years earlier after ovarian cancer.
Richard continued.
“And then you moved back in with Gigi. This house felt alive again.”
For the first time, Clara understood the emotional engine underneath the legal paperwork.
Her father was not primarily afraid Gigi would be unsafe.
He was afraid she would leave him.
May you like
That explained Richard.
It did not yet explain why Arthur had transformed that fear into a campaign against Clara.
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