Chapter 12 - THOMAS BENNETT'S WARNING
The document was dated four years before Lily was born.
Thomas had been dying of pancreatic cancer.
He wrote that any future Bennett grandchild should be protected from "coercive family governance," especially by Diane, whose obsession with control had already damaged her sons.
The judge denied Preston's attempt to remove Naomi.
Then she referred the altered trust documents to the state's attorney.
For the first time, Preston Hale looked nervous.
Diane did not.
She waited for me outside court.
"You think a dead man's note makes you powerful?"
I stepped closer, Lily's stroller between us.
"No. Lily makes me powerful."
Diane smiled.
"You were never built for this family. Jason needed someone polished, loyal, grateful. Instead he brought home a woman who keeps score."
"I kept records. There's a difference."
Her smile vanished.
"You hit my son."
"And I'll answer for that. Will you answer for hitting my daughter?"
She leaned toward me.
"Children forget."
"Courts don't."
That afternoon, child protective investigators interviewed relatives who had been at the party.
Two suddenly changed their stories.
Jason's cousin Mark admitted Diane had struck Lily before.
His aunt Susan admitted Brooke had offered to pay off her credit-card debt if she testified that I was "emotionally unstable."
Then investigators interviewed the neighbor listed in the Custody Narrative.
She denied signing anything.
So did the pastor.
Half the witnesses had been forged.
At 5:30, police arrested Brooke for the storage-unit break-in.
At 7:15, she asked for a deal.
At 8:02, Naomi called me.
"Brooke says Diane didn't design the plan."
"Who did?"
May you like
Naomi paused.
"Jason did."
