Chapter 6 - The SafeMaya fell asleep in my bedroom with three blankets over her and my hand wrapped around hers.
I sat beside her until her breathing steadied.
Then I called my attorney.
Daniel Cross had worked for me for fifteen years. He had handled acquisitions, lawsuits, hostile negotiations, and one very quiet blackmail attempt from a former executive.
He answered immediately.
“Richard?”
“I need you at my house.”
There was no hesitation. “How bad?”
“My wife has been abusing Maya.”
Silence.
Then Daniel said, “I’m on my way.”
While I waited, I went to my private office.
Eleanor followed.
She had changed out of her dinner dress and into a silk robe, as if costume could restore control.
“You’re being manipulated,” she said. “Maya knows you feel guilty about traveling. She’s using it.”
I opened the wall safe behind Sarah’s old landscape painting.
Eleanor stopped talking.
Inside were documents Eleanor had never seen.
Sarah’s trust papers.
Maya’s inheritance protections.
The original estate agreement.
And a sealed envelope in Sarah’s handwriting.
I had not opened it in years.
My fingers brushed over the words.
For Richard, if you ever lose your way.
I closed my eyes.
Eleanor stepped closer.
“What is that?”
I ignored her and pulled out the estate binder.
“When we married, you signed a prenuptial agreement.”
Her expression hardened. “This again?”
“You also signed a child welfare clause.”
She blinked.
“That clause states that any proven mistreatment of Maya immediately terminates your claim to residence, discretionary funds, and spousal benefits.”
“That would never hold.”
Daniel’s voice came from the office doorway.
“It will.”
Eleanor turned.
My attorney stood there in a raincoat, holding his briefcase, face grim.
Behind him stood two people I had not expected.
Mrs. Gable.
And a child welfare officer.
Eleanor’s confidence finally cracked.
“You brought strangers into my home?”
May you like
I looked at Maya’s locked room down the hall.
“No,” I said. “You made this a crime scene.”
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