Chapter 9 - DADDY SLEEPS
By evening, strangers online had decided I was in love with Richard.
Vanessa stood outside her attorney’s office in a plain navy dress and told cameras she loved Leo.
She claimed the staircase footage had been manipulated.
She said I resented her engagement.
Then she said, “Anna wanted my place in that family.”
Richard wanted to respond publicly.
I stopped him.
“Anything you say makes this look personal.”
“It is personal.”
“That’s why we can’t play her game.”
I went upstairs.
Leo sat on the rug stacking blocks.
“Anna sad?”
“No, sweetheart.”
He touched my cheek.
“Vessa no come?”
“No.”
He nodded, then said something that made me freeze.
“Vessa say Daddy sleep.”
“What?”
He placed the father figure from his toy set on the floor.
“Daddy sleep wedding. Vessa take Leo car.”
I called Ortiz immediately.
A trained child-forensic interviewer arrived that afternoon. She asked open questions and let Leo play.
He laid the father doll flat.
He put the child doll in a toy car beside the woman doll.
“What’s happening?” she asked.
“Daddy sleep. We go.”
Richard watched through the observation glass.
His face went colorless.
Vanessa had already described the wedding plan to a two-year-old.
That night I packed a suitcase.
Richard found me folding clothes.
“You’re leaving?”
“I’m going back to my apartment.”
“Leo needs you.”
“And Vanessa needs everyone to believe I’m trying to replace her. I won’t help her.”
He stopped arguing.
Instead he asked, “What would make you feel safe?”
The question surprised me.
“My own apartment. Normal work hours. Police patrol. No public statements about me.”
He nodded.
“Done.”
Before I left, Marcus called.
The threatening phone had been purchased by someone connected to Vanessa.
Not Derek.
Her wedding planner, Elise Warren.
Police searched Elise’s office.
Inside they found forged signatures, photos of Leo’s nursery, and the address of a private guesthouse.
Investigators entered it before dawn.
Upstairs was a fully prepared bedroom for Leo.
May you like
Three suitcases sat in the closet.
One already had his name on it.
