Chapter 6 - The Subpoena
Julian was drowning, and he knew it.
With no access to my accounts and my parents cutting off Chloe entirely, they were living in a cheap motel on the edge of town. His ego couldn't handle it. He decided to fight back by filing an emergency motion for full custody of Maya, claiming I was an "absentee mother" due to my overnight hospital shifts.
It was a desperate, stupid move.
The emergency hearing was held in family court on a rainy Tuesday. Julian arrived looking disheveled, wearing a suit that hadn't been ironed, smelling faintly of stale smoke. Chloe wasn't with him; she had already started pulling away now that his wallet was empty.
I sat next to Marcus Vance, wearing a pristine navy suit, looking entirely unbothered.
Julian’s sleazy, low-budget lawyer stood up and delivered a rambling speech about my grueling work hours, claiming I abandoned my child to a nanny and a "loving father."
When it was Marcus’s turn, he didn't even stand up.
"Your Honor," Marcus said smoothly. "We have submitted Exhibit A to the bench. It is a certified ER medical report from October 14th. When my client returned home and found her daughter, she immediately took her to St. Jude’s emergency room. The child’s core temperature was 94 degrees. Mild hypothermia."
Julian went completely white. "That's a lie!"
The judge banged her gavel. "Silence, Mr. Thorne."
"Furthermore," Marcus continued, pulling out a flash drive. "We have subpoenaed the security footage from the Thorne residence's hallway camera. Would you like to view the footage of Mr. Thorne aggressively shoving his six-year-old daughter out of the way while carrying his mistress into the bedroom?"
The judge looked at Julian with utter disgust. "I have seen enough."
"Your Honor, please!" Julian begged, standing up. "She manipulated the system! I love my daughter!"
"You love yourself, Mr. Thorne," the judge snapped. "Emergency custody is granted fully to the mother. Mr. Thorne’s visitation rights are entirely revoked pending a full psychological evaluation and a child services investigation into willful endangerment. If you approach the child or the mother, you will be jailed."
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As the bailiff escorted Julian out of the courtroom, he looked back at me. There was no anger left in his eyes, only the hollow, terrified realization that he had lost everything.
I didn't smile. I just looked through him as if he were a ghost.
