Chapter 9 - Gillian’s Custody Plan
Jasper left the hospital without the signed guarantee.
But he did not leave quietly.
In the elevator, he called Gillian.
“She knows everything.”
His mother answered without panic.
“How much?”
“The loan. The footage. The signature.”
“Does she know about the guardianship papers?”
Jasper stopped speaking.
A hospital visitor stepped into the elevator beside him.
He waited until the doors opened into the lobby.
“What papers?”
Gillian sounded irritated.
“The ones your attorney prepared before the birth.”
“I told you not to use them.”
“You also told me Hailey would cooperate.”
Jasper walked quickly toward the exit.
“What did you file?”
“Nothing yet.”
“Where are they?”
“In my safe.”
He lowered his voice.
“Destroy them.”
“No.”
“Mother.”
“If your company collapses, Hailey will blame you. She will file for divorce. Then she will use Toby to humiliate us.”
“He’s her son.”
“He is a Cole.”
Jasper rubbed his forehead.
Gillian continued.
“The petition states Hailey is emotionally unstable and dependent on prescription medication.”
“She had a C-section.”
“The court does not need context immediately. It needs concern.”
Jasper understood.
His mother planned to request emergency temporary guardianship of Toby.
She had gathered photographs of Hailey crying during pregnancy.
Messages where Hailey admitted feeling anxious.
Medical records showing she had once been treated for postpartum depression after a previous miscarriage.
All normal, painful experiences.
Gillian intended to reshape them into evidence that Hailey was dangerous.
“Do not file anything,” Jasper said.
“You are losing control.”
“And you’re making it worse.”
“I am protecting this family.”
Jasper looked through the glass entrance toward the hospital.
For the first time, he wondered whether his mother had ever protected anyone except herself.
Upstairs, Hailey received a call from the maternity social worker.
A woman claiming to be Toby’s grandmother had requested access to Hailey’s mental-health records.
Hailey immediately knew who it was.
Naomi asked the hospital to lock every file.
Then Charles made a second call.
Within an hour, a private investigator located Gillian’s draft guardianship petition through a legal assistant she had paid.
The petition accused Hailey of refusing to feed Toby.
The diaper bag incident had already been rewritten.
Gillian claimed Hailey had deliberately left the supplies in the SUV.
Hailey read the statement twice.
“She stole the bag and then accused me of neglect.”
Charles’s jaw tightened.
“She intends to use the hospital abandonment against you.”
“How?”
“By saying Jasper left because you were behaving erratically.”
Hailey’s eyes filled with tears.
Every cruel act had been planned to produce a reaction they could later weaponize.
Naomi touched the document.
“This petition has not been filed. That gives us an advantage.”
“What advantage?”
“We know exactly what they intend to say.”
Hailey wiped her face.
May you like
“Then let them say it.”
👉 Gillian planned to portray Hailey as an unfit mother—but she did not know the hospital entrance had captured every second on camera.
