Chapter 7 - VANESSA STRIKES FIRST
At 10:32 a.m., my phone rang with a call from Ethan's school.
Vanessa was there.
She was trying to sign him out.
I was in Reed's car three blocks from Charles Welles's office.
"Do not release him," I said.
The administrator lowered her voice.
"She says she's his stepmother and that you're experiencing a psychiatric emergency."
My hands went cold.
Reed turned the car around before I asked.
When we reached the school, Vanessa stood inside the main office wearing sunglasses and holding a folder.
Ethan sat behind the receptionist's desk.
The second he saw me, he ran over.
"Dad."
I put both hands on his shoulders.
"I'm here."
Vanessa removed her sunglasses.
There was a bruise along her left forearm.
I had never touched her.
She looked directly at Reed.
"That is why I'm afraid of him."
She handed the principal a copy of a petition seeking an emergency protective order.
Against me.
The affidavit alleged I had become violent after finding "delusional writings" belonging to Olivia.
It claimed I had threatened Vanessa, forced her from the home, and frightened the children.
Reed read it.
"You filed this this morning?"
"My attorney did."
"Which attorney?"
"Charles Welles."
The floor seemed to tilt.
Vanessa looked at me almost calmly.
"You need help, Arthur."
Ethan stepped forward.
"She's lying!"
Vanessa gave him a wounded look.
"You don't understand what your father is going through."
He lifted his chin.
"I understand you hit me."
She froze.
The principal asked to see his cheek.
The redness had faded, but Dr. Morris's photographs existed.
I forwarded the clinic report immediately.
Vanessa's confidence slipped.
Only for a second.
Then two county deputies arrived to serve temporary paperwork.
They did not arrest me.
They explained the order was limited and required a hearing.
I was ordered not to contact Vanessa directly.
The children could remain with me pending review because Vanessa had no custodial rights independent of me.
Her plan had not worked completely.
But it worked enough.
She had created a public record portraying me as unstable before I could accuse her of anything.
As Vanessa left, Ethan pointed at her handbag.
"Dad."
I couldn't respond to her directly.
He whispered, "That's Mom's."
I looked.
Vanessa was carrying Olivia's old burgundy leather document case.
I hadn't seen it since the year Olivia died.
Reed saw my face.
"What?"
"That bag belonged to Olivia."
Vanessa heard.
Her pace quickened.
Reed could not seize it without legal grounds.
But Vanessa had just proven she possessed property from the room she claimed she never searched.
Then a folded corner of paper slipped from the case.
She shoved it back inside.
I saw the header.
May you like
VANTAGE MERIDIAN.
📖 Vanessa escaped with Olivia's document case, but Ethan remembered exactly where he had seen it before—and who had handed it to her. 👇
