Chapter 6
Detective Miller closed his leather folder with a soft snap, the sound echoing quietly in the high-ceilinged drawing room. He looked down at Toby, who was busy trying to balance a small wooden toy block on his knee, entirely unbothered by the sudden departure of the officer’s suspicion. Miller then turned his attention back to Elena and Julian, who stood shoulder-to-shoulder near the doorway, waiting for the verdict.
“Well,” Miller said, clearing his throat. “The boy is unharmed, coherent, and his account matches your explanation regarding the fruit punch. There are no signs of physical trauma or distress indicative of abuse. I’ll be filing my report stating that the welfare check yielded no evidence to support Ms. Clara Vance’s claims of violence.”
Elena let out a long, shuddering breath she felt she had been holding since dawn. The tension in her shoulders dropped noticeably. “Thank you, Detective. I appreciate your thoroughness.”
“Don’t thank me yet, Mrs. Vance,” Miller cautioned, sliding the clipboard under his arm. “Clara Vance is a persistent woman with deep financial resources. Even if my report clears you of physical abuse, the custody battle in family court is going to be a brutal war of attrition. She’s going to claim psychological instability next. You need to be prepared for social services to launch a full-scale home evaluation.”
Julian crossed his arms, his expression grim but resolute. “Let them come. Every square inch of this house is clean, and our legal team has documented every single malicious interaction Clara has initiated over the past eighteen months. We aren't hiding anything.”
“Just keep a close eye on the boy,” Miller advised as he walked toward the front door, escorted by Julian. “Kids absorb more than we think. That kind of public panic leaves marks that don't show up on a medical chart.”
Once the police cruisers’ taillights vanished down the long, winding drive of the estate, the heavy silence of the morning returned. Elena walked back into the drawing room and scooped Toby up into her arms, pressing her face against his light brown hair. The reality of their situation pressed down on them like lead. They had won the first minor skirmish, but the war had only just begun.
Julian returned from the foyer, his cell phone vibrating aggressively in his hand. He glanced at the screen, his expression darkening instantly. “That was our lead attorney. Clara just filed an emergency injunction freezing the joint bank accounts and petitioning for a court-ordered psychological evaluation for you, Elena, citing your ‘erratic behavior’ on the wedding day.”
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Elena tightened her grip on Toby. “She’s trying to cut off our oxygen supply completely. Without those funds, we can't pay the private investigators or the expert witnesses for the custody hearing next week.”
“She won't succeed,” Julian said, walking over and placing a comforting hand on Elena’s back. “I have liquid assets outside the joint estate. We fight her on her own terms.”
