Chapter 10 - Beatriz Changes the Game
At 5:40 the next morning, Beatriz woke Isabella before sunrise.
I knew because the mirrored camera log alerted my phone.
Maya and I were already awake.
We watched from the downstairs study.
Beatriz entered Isabella's room carrying a dress.
"Put this on."
Isabella sat up.
"Why?"
"We have an appointment."
"With who?"
"A doctor."
My heart kicked hard.
No appointment existed.
I texted Leah.
MOVE NOW.
Then I walked upstairs.
Beatriz turned when I appeared.
"You're up early."
"So are you."
She held the dress against Isabella.
"I thought I'd take her for breakfast."
"You said doctor."
Silence.
Isabella's eyes moved between us.
Beatriz smiled carefully.
"I meant dentist. I forgot to tell you."
"Which dentist?"
Her expression hardened a fraction.
"Grant, are you interrogating me?"
I wanted to say yes.
Instead, I smiled.
"No. I just want to come."
That changed everything.
"You have work."
"I canceled it."
"Why?"
"I felt like being a father today."
The sentence landed harder than I intended.
Isabella stared at me.
Beatriz put the dress down.
"Fine. We can reschedule."
She left the room.
I closed the door.
Isabella whispered, "She knows."
"Maybe."
"What happens now?"
"Now Aunt Maya stays with you."
"And you?"
"I have to make sure she can't hurt you with the truth twisted backward."
By 7:15, Beatriz's emergency petition was electronically filed.
She claimed I had become controlling overnight.
That I was monitoring her communications.
That Isabella had shown signs of fear when I returned from Chicago.
She asked the court to restrict my unsupervised access to Isabella pending evaluation.
The speed told me the petition had been ready for weeks.
At 8:03, a process server arrived at my front gate.
At 8:20, Beatriz left through the front door with a suitcase.
She looked directly into the camera and smiled.
Then she called police from the driveway and said she was afraid to enter the house.
It was theater.
Very good theater.
By noon, two local news sites had the story.
MERCER GLOBAL CEO FACES DOMESTIC SAFETY PETITION.
My board chair called.
"Grant, what the hell is going on?"
"A fraud case disguised as a marriage crisis."
"The board is nervous."
"Good. Nervous people ask questions."
"Rebecca says you should take temporary leave."
Of course she did.
"Rebecca can wait."
Then the chair said something I did not expect.
"Owen already recommended the same thing."
The trap was closing exactly as planned.
Except now I could see it.
That afternoon, Dr. June Ellis met Isabella.
I did not attend.
Maya waited outside.
When the session ended, June called me.
"Grant, I can't discuss everything yet."
"Is she okay?"
"She is frightened, but coherent."
"Did Beatriz coach her?"
A pause.
"Isabella described being required to repeat certain sentences until she could say them without crying."
I closed my eyes.
June continued.
"There's something else."
"What?"
"She believes there is a punishment coming because Beatriz left."
"What kind?"
"She doesn't know."
"Why does she believe that?"
June's answer chilled me.
"Because Beatriz told her, 'If I ever have to leave this house because of you, you'll lose the last thing your mother gave you.'"
Lauren had left Isabella many things.
But there was one object my daughter loved more than all the rest.
Her mother's handwritten letters.
They were kept in a locked fireproof box.
In my home office.
I ran upstairs.
May you like
The box was gone.
