Chapter 14 - THE CUSTODY THREAT
Judith’s attorney delivered the petition before noon.
It accused Brooke of emotional instability, financial dependence, and failure to recognize Maisie’s worsening illness during the days before hospitalization.
The petition requested that Grant receive temporary sole medical authority.
Attached were photographs of Brooke drinking wine at a company event, screenshots of arguments with Grant, and a statement from a nanny Judith had hired.
Brooke read the documents twice.
“She’s been building this for months.”
Grant stood near the window.
“My mother believes Maisie needs stability.”
“Your mother almost killed your first child.”
“Don’t say that.”
Mara—no, I reminded myself. I was no longer Grant’s wife, no longer responsible for softening anything for him.
I faced him.
“Judith knew Liam had a fever-sensitive heart condition. She delayed calling for help. That is not a misunderstanding.”
“She panicked.”
“She waited more than an hour.”
“You don’t know what happened in that house.”
“Neither do you, because you chose not to ask.”
Brooke closed the folder.
“Are you supporting this petition?”
Grant rubbed the back of his neck.
“I want Maisie protected.”
“From me?”
“From chaos.”
Brooke stared at him.
“You brought our baby into an emergency room at three in the morning because you refused to call the pediatrician when her fever reached one hundred four.”
Grant’s face reddened.
“You said it was probably teething.”
“I said that at one hundred degrees. You waited six hours.”
Judith had already begun rewriting this crisis too.
Brooke was unstable.
I was vindictive.
Grant was a frightened father trapped between difficult women.
He had used that role his entire life.
Dr. Shah entered with the preliminary genetic results.
Maisie carried the SCN5A mutation.
Grant’s test was positive as well.
Brooke’s was negative.
“The mutation came through Grant’s side,” Priya said.
Brooke looked directly at him.
“You knew this was possible before I became pregnant.”
Grant shook his head.
“I didn’t understand the risk.”
“You hid your family history.”
“My mother said—”
Brooke threw the custody petition onto the chair.
“Stop telling me what your mother said.”
Maisie’s monitor alarm sounded inside the ICU.
Every person in the hallway turned.
A nurse rushed through the doors.
Then another alarm began.
Dr. Shah ran inside.
A voice came over the hospital speaker.
“Pediatric cardiac emergency, Room Four.”
Brooke’s face went white.
May you like
I reached the room before anyone could stop me.
Maisie’s heart rhythm had become chaotic.
