CHAPTER 3: THE EVIDENCE
The next morning, I started building my case.
I had a folder full of evidence—emails, bank statements, text messages, voice recordings. Everything Mark had ever done to betray me.
He had been planning to leave me for years.
He'd been hiding money, setting up accounts, and preparing to take Lily away.
But he'd made one mistake.
He'd underestimated me.
"Mrs. Anderson," my lawyer said, "this is an open-and-shut case. He has no legal right to take your daughter. And his attempt to do so without your consent is a crime."
"What about Valerie?"
"She's being charged with conspiracy. She's also being investigated for fraud. It seems she's been involved in several of Mark's schemes."
I felt a small sense of vindication.
"I want full custody," I said. "And I want him to never see her again."
"That's going to be difficult."
"I know. But I'm not going to stop until I get what's right."
The legal battle lasted for months.
Mark fought dirty. He used every tactic he could think of. He accused me of neglect, of mental instability, of being an unfit mother.
None of it stuck.
Because I had the evidence.
And I had Lily.
Every time he lied, I produced a document.
Every time he fabricated a story, I produced a recording.
He had no power.
And he hated it.
But he wasn't the only one fighting.
Valerie had her own lawyers. She was trying to distance herself from the whole situation, claiming she'd been manipulated by Mark.
It didn't work.
May you like
She was guilty.
And the law was going to catch up with her.
