Chapter 15 - The Petition
The petition was real.
Grant's signature was real.
The circumstances were not.
Daniel Cho, Grant's new attorney, filed an emergency motion to void it.
Renata filed first.
Her lawyers claimed Grant was unstable, Nathan was financially conflicted, and Emma had manipulated Lily.
They requested temporary control of Lily's care pending review.
Emma stared at the court papers.
"She is still trying."
Grant's face was stone.
"Because she thinks paperwork can clean up what she did."
The hearing was scheduled for the next morning.
Renata appeared in court wearing cream and pearls.
She looked like the victim she wanted the room to see.
Her lawyer said, "Ms. Cole has acted as a maternal figure to Lily for nearly two years."
Emma almost laughed.
Then the child advocate submitted Lily's statement.
Lily did not have to testify in open court.
Instead, the judge reviewed her recorded interview.
"She burned me."
Those three words filled the courtroom.
Renata's face cracked.
Then came the hospital records.
The sedative.
Claire's recordings.
The tea sample.
The court voided the petition immediately and issued a protective order barring Renata from contact with Lily.
Outside, reporters shouted questions.
Renata ignored them and stared at Emma.
"You think you won?"
Emma stopped.
Grant stepped between them.
"Don't talk to her."
Renata smiled at him.
"You still don't understand your own daughter."
Grant's voice dropped.
"I understand enough."
Renata leaned closer.
"Then ask Lily what happened after Claire crashed."
Grant froze.
"What are you talking about?"
Renata walked toward her car.
"Ask her who found the car first."
That evening, Grant sat beside Lily in the sunroom.
"Sweetheart, I need to ask something hard."
Lily looked at him.
"Okay."
"Do you remember Mommy's accident?"
Her face changed.
Emma sat nearby.
Lily whispered, "I was in the car."
Grant stopped breathing.
The official report said Claire had been alone.
Lily looked at him with tears in her eyes.
"Renata took me out before the police came."
That night, Emma found Grant shredding blank copies of the old guardianship forms.
"That won't erase what happened," she said.
"I know."
"Then why are you doing it?"
He fed another page into the shredder.
May you like
"Because I need to hear them break."
Emma almost smiled. "Fair enough."
