Chapter 9 - The Fifth TicketOlivia cried when she saw the reservation.
Not loudly.
That was worse.
“She was planning to take my baby.”
Ethan sat beside her.
“She was planning something.”
He refused to say more than the evidence proved.
Harris appreciated that.
Olivia did not.
“She made a plane ticket.”
“Yes.”
“For my baby.”
“Yes.”
“She threw away my medication.”
“Yes.”
“How much proof do I need before I’m allowed to be afraid?”
Ethan took her hand.
“You’re allowed now.”
That broke her.
For months, every fear had been called dramatic.
Every complaint selfish.
Every boundary rude.
Olivia had started requiring permission to trust herself.
Diane had done that.
Then Vanessa agreed to cooperate.
She insisted she never knew about the infant ticket until police found it.
She had believed Diane planned to help Olivia “after the birth.”
Courtney and Madison returned voluntarily.
Their stories differed.
Courtney admitted Diane told them Olivia might “lose it” after delivery.
Madison said Diane promised they would all relocate to Arizona if Ethan “turned against the family.”
Ethan asked:
“Why Arizona?”
Diane’s sister lived there.
A licensed foster-care administrator.
Rachel went silent.
“That matters.”
Not because the aunt could legally take the baby with a plane ticket.
She could not.
But she might help Diane navigate emergency custody systems.
Then another bank alert came.
Diane attempted to withdraw $60,000 from Olivia’s frozen account using the revoked power of attorney.
The bank stopped it.
Security footage captured her.
She was not hiding.
She still believed the document gave her authority.
Then Harris called Ethan.
“We found Diane.”
“Where?”
“At your wife’s obstetric clinic.”
Ethan stood.
“Why?”
May you like
Harris paused.
“She was trying to obtain Olivia’s medical records.”
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