Chapter 9 - GRANT WANTED A MOVE NO ONE ELSE KNEW ABOUT
The next layer came from a practical disagreement.
Grant had been offered a partnership-track position in Charlotte.
He wanted to move.
Vanessa did not.
Maisie’s preschool was in Ohio.
Evelyn lived fifteen minutes away.
Hannah was gone, but Maisie still had grandparents, cousins, and familiar routines nearby.
Grant argued the move would benefit everyone.
Better salary.
Better weather.
Fresh start.
Vanessa kept saying:
“Maisie needs stability.”
Grant answered:
“Maisie needs parents who make decisions instead of Grandma.”
There it was.
Evelyn had become more than an irritating relative.
She was the biggest obstacle to relocation.
Not legally.
Emotionally.
Maisie adored her.
Whenever Grant mentioned Charlotte, Maisie asked:
“Is Grandma coming?”
Grant started correcting her.
“You won’t need Grandma every day.”
Then:
“Big girls don’t call Grandma every time they’re sad.”
Then:
“Grandma makes you think you need her.”
Vanessa finally understood the escalation.
Grant was not merely jealous of Evelyn.
He was preparing Maisie for separation.
If the child stopped asking—
Stopped crying—
Stopped reaching for Grandma—
Then the move would become easier.
Grant could call it adjustment.
The locked bedroom had been one brutal lesson inside a larger campaign.
Evelyn felt sick when Vanessa explained it.
“Why didn’t he just tell me about Charlotte?”
Vanessa laughed sadly.
“Because you would’ve said no.”
“I don’t get a vote.”
“Maybe not.”
Vanessa looked at her.
“But Maisie listens to you.”
Grant’s goal was not to win Evelyn’s agreement.
It was to weaken her influence before anyone could challenge his decision.
That was why Hannah mattered.
Grant had already learned once that removing an attachment figure worked.
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After months, Maisie stopped asking for Hannah.
Now he was trying to reproduce the result with Grandma.
