Chapter 12 - THE COURTROOM
At the emergency hearing, Caroline wore white.
Calm.
Controlled.
Concerned aunt.
She told the judge she loved Sophie.
I believed her.
That was the tragedy.
She probably did.
She simply believed love entitled her to control.
Rachel presented the forged declaration first.
Then the school photograph.
Then Diane’s messages.
Then the lake-house contractor.
Caroline’s attorney asked for a recess.
The judge refused.
Then Rachel played Grace’s recording.
The room changed.
Caroline stopped looking at me.
Grace’s voice filled the courtroom.
Sophie is not a prize. She is not leverage. She is not a vote. She is a child.
I swallowed hard.
The judge denied Caroline’s emergency petition.
Then went further.
Temporary protective orders barred Caroline and Diane from contacting Sophie while the fraud and property investigation continued.
Allison was not included.
That surprised me.
Outside court, she stood alone.
“I’m going to my sister’s.”
“Okay.”
“I won’t contact Sophie unless you say I can.”
“Okay.”
She looked at me.
“Are we over?”
I could have answered quickly.
Instead, I told the truth.
“I don’t know if I can trust you.”
She nodded.
“That’s fair.”
“No. It’s not about fair.”
I looked through the courthouse doors where Sophie sat coloring with Mara.
“It’s about safe.”
Allison cried.
“I loved her.”
“I think you wanted her to love you.”
“That’s different.”
“Yes.”
She flinched.
Then she handed me her house key.
“I’m sorry.”
I took it.
As she turned away, Nora Hayes—the detective assigned to the property case—approached Rachel.
“We searched Caroline’s office.”
“What did you find?”
Nora looked at me.
“A second guardianship petition.”
My stomach tightened.
“For Sophie?”
“No.”
May you like
She held up the file.
“For you.”
