Chương 6
Mara tied the bag.
“Then it’s an excellent trash dress.”
The lawyer’s name was Priya Shah.
Mara found her through a hospital social worker who described Priya as patient, practical, and unimpressed by family money. Her office occupied the second floor above a bakery in Somerville. When Elise explained that she was six days postpartum, Priya offered a video call that afternoon.
She appeared on the screen wearing a navy sweater and rectangular glasses. Behind her stood a bookcase, a dying plant, and a child’s drawing of what might have been a horse or a toaster.
Priya listened without interrupting.
When Elise finished, Priya asked, “What outcome do you want?”
The question irritated Elise.
“I want to know who did this.”
“That is a question. What outcome do you want?”
“I want Daniel to understand what he did.”
“That is his work, not a legal outcome.”
“I don’t know.”
Priya nodded.
“That’s normal. We can begin with what you do not want.”
“I don’t want them taking Noah.”
“Has anyone threatened custody action?”
“No.”
“Has Daniel asked to see him?”
“Yes.”
“What did you say?”
“No.”
“Do you intend to prevent all contact indefinitely?”
Elise looked toward the bassinet. Noah was asleep with both arms raised above his head.
“I don’t know.”
Priya made a note.
“Are you married?”
“Yes.”
“Prenuptial agreement?”
“Yes.”
“Did you have independent counsel when you signed it?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have access to money in your own name?”
Elise hesitated.
She had a checking account containing a little over eleven thousand dollars from her work at the Cambridge Community Arts Center. She also had a joint account with Daniel, two credit cards, and no clear idea how much money sat in the family trusts. Before Noah’s birth, she had reduced her hours and planned to take six months unpaid leave.
“I have some,” she said.
“Enough for housing, food, legal expenses, and childcare for several months?”
“No.”
Priya nodded again without judgment.
“Has access to any account changed?”
Elise checked while they spoke. One joint credit card had been temporarily frozen due to suspected fraud. The bank app requested that the primary account holder call.
Daniel was the primary account holder.
Her stomach tightened.
“He froze my card.”
“Do you know that?”
“It says the primary holder has to call.”
“That may be automatic. Ask before assuming.”
Elise disliked the correction because it was reasonable.
She texted Daniel.
Did you freeze the blue card?
His answer arrived almost immediately.
No. There was a charge from the hotel that triggered fraud protection. I’ll call now. Do you need cash transferred?
Elise showed Priya.
“Let him restore access to joint funds,” Priya said. “Do not empty accounts. Do not agree verbally to custody, separation, or returning home. Save every message. Ask the hospital to preserve access logs to your portal. Request a copy of the original DNA report and the false document. Then decide whether to make a police report about the impersonated medical communication.”
“Police?”
“Someone created a false medical record to influence your family. That may involve fraud, harassment, identity misuse, or unauthorized access. I’m not telling you what crime occurred. I’m telling you to preserve the option.”
Elise rubbed her thumb over the edge of the phone.
“Daniel will think I’m attacking his mother.”
“Do you believe his mother made it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then the report is about conduct, not a person.”
Priya leaned closer to the screen.
“You are recovering from surgery and caring for a newborn. You do not need to solve your marriage this week. But other people may make decisions while you are exhausted. We can slow that down.”
The phrase caught Elise.
Slow that down.
Daniel’s family treated speed as authority. They sent cars, made calls, arranged tables, removed obstacles. Vivian could turn a private suspicion into an emergency before anyone had time to ask whether it was true.
“What would slowing it down look like?” Elise asked.
“A written temporary parenting arrangement. Financial access. No surprise visits. Communication through text except emergencies. A neutral location when Daniel sees the baby. Medical decisions remain with you unless there is a genuine emergency. And no involvement from his mother.”
Elise looked at Mara, who sat beyond the laptop with her arms folded.
“No involvement at all?” Elise said.
“For now.”
The thought of Vivian not seeing Noah brought a small, mean satisfaction. Elise was ashamed of it and kept it anyway.
Priya sent a draft letter before the call ended.
Daniel agreed to every condition within two hours.
That made Mara suspicious.
“It means he has counsel,” she said.
“He always has counsel.”
“It means Elwood told him to behave.”
“Or he knows he was wrong.”
“Those can coexist.”
Daniel’s first visit with Noah took place four days later in a family room at Priya’s office.
Elise nearly canceled that morning.
Noah had been awake most of the night. He spat milk onto her sweater before they left. The ride-share driver missed the turn twice and offered advice about infant sleep despite having no children. By the time Elise reached the bakery downstairs from Priya’s office, she wanted to walk back out.
Daniel was waiting upstairs.
He wore dark trousers and a blue shirt, not the white shirt from the Mercer house. He had shaved. A paper bag from a pharmacy sat beside his chair.
He stood when Elise entered, then stopped as though remembering he had no right to approach.
“Hi,” he said.
Elise hated the normality of it.
“Hi.”
Priya’s assistant remained in the room. Her name was Lynn. She had silver hair, red glasses, and the calm boredom of someone who had watched hundreds of families behave badly near upholstered furniture.
Daniel looked at Noah.
“Can I hold him?”
Elise sat.
“Wash your hands.”
May you like
He went to the sink immediately.
While he washed, she watched for signs that he resented the instruction. He counted the seconds beneath his breath, dried his hands on a paper towel, and approached slowly.
