Chapter 6 - Trevor’s First Explanation
Trevor requested mediation.
Hailey almost refused.
Dana recommended hearing him out if proper safeguards were in place.
Separate rooms.
Attorneys present.
No Miles.
Trevor looked exhausted on the video screen.
For the first time since the hospital, he did not look powerful.
He looked cornered.
“I never planned to take Miles permanently.”
Hailey laughed.
“The petition asked for sole residential custody.”
“It was temporary.”
“It was written before he was born.”
“My mother said we needed a contingency.”
“A contingency for what?”
Trevor rubbed his forehead.
“You.”
There it was.
Hailey’s hands went cold.
“What about me?”
“You were anxious.”
“I was pregnant.”
“You cried constantly.”
“My husband was telling his mother everything I did.”
Trevor looked down.
“My mom said postpartum depression could get bad.”
“So you prepared to take my baby before knowing whether I would even have it?”
“No.”
“You signed it.”
His silence mattered.
Hailey continued.
“Why?”
Trevor finally said:
“Because my mother said if things became unstable and I didn’t act fast, you could leave with Miles and use him against the family.”
“The family.”
Trevor closed his eyes.
“I know how it sounds.”
“It sounds exactly like what happened.”
He denied knowing Cynthia intended to remove Miles from the hospital herself.
Hailey did not know whether to believe him.
“What did you think the paperwork was for?”
“If you had some kind of breakdown.”
“Did a doctor tell you I was likely to?”
“No.”
“My therapist?”
“No.”
“Anybody?”
Trevor looked away.
“No.”
“So Cynthia told you.”
“Yes.”
“And you believed her.”
“I trusted my mother.”
Hailey stared.
That sentence used to sound normal.
Now it sounded terrifying.
Trevor continued.
“She said you wouldn’t understand what the trust meant.”
“What does the trust have to do with whether I’m a good mother?”
“It shouldn’t.”
“But it did.”
Trevor’s mouth tightened.
His attorney whispered something.
Trevor ignored him.
“If Miles wasn’t primarily under my household, Mom said the succession structure could become a fight.”
A fight.
Over company shares.
Over control.
Over a newborn who still woke every two hours.
Hailey felt anger rise.
“Did she promise you something?”
Trevor froze.
Dana immediately noticed.
So did Hailey.
“What did she promise you?”
Trevor’s attorney intervened.
“We’re not addressing speculative financial arrangements today.”
Hailey leaned back.
That answer was enough for now.
May you like
There was something.
And Trevor had nearly revealed it.
Related Stories
