Chapter 5: The Father on Paper
On Monday morning, a process server met me outside Luke and Owen’s preschool.
“Claire Bennett?”
“Yes.”
He handed me a thick envelope.
“You’ve been served.”
Mark had requested emergency temporary custody and accused me of concealing his children.
The hearing was set for Friday.
Sharon read the first page in my kitchen while the twins colored at the table.
“He says you are unstable.”
“He used my fertility counseling records.”
“How did he get those?”
“I don’t know.”
Luke held up a green dinosaur.
“Mommy, look.”
I forced my hand to stop shaking and took the page.
“That is the strongest dinosaur I’ve ever seen.”
“Strong like you,” he said.
My smile broke.
I turned toward the sink, but Sharon followed.
“Don’t hide from me.”
“If a judge believes him, they could send my boys to a stranger.”
“Then we show the judge who the stranger is.”
My attorney, Rachel Monroe, arrived an hour later.
She placed Mark’s filing beside Diane’s voicemail transcript.
“He is using the fact that no father appears on the birth certificates,” Rachel said.
“I was told I could leave that line blank.”
“You could.
But Mark is arguing that you did it to prevent him from finding them.”
“I sent the letter.”
“And now we have proof that he received it.”
Rachel tapped another paragraph.
“He also claims you brought the twins to the shower as a planned public ambush.”
“Sharon brought them because Luke was crying.”
Sharon sat forward.
“I’ll testify.”
Rachel nodded.
“We also need the event video.”
My phone rang.
Emily’s name appeared on the screen.
“Answer it,” Rachel said.
I put the call on speaker.
“Claire, Mark came to my mother’s house,” Emily whispered.
“He wants the clinic recording.”
“Did you give it to him?”
“No.
But he took my tablet, and my email was open.”
Rachel leaned closer.
“Emily, this is Claire’s attorney.
Change every password now.
Then contact the clinic and request preservation of all records.”
A door closed on Emily’s end.
“He’s back,” she whispered.
Mark’s voice came through faintly.
“Who are you talking to?”
Emily ended the call.
I stood so quickly my chair tipped over.
“We have to help her.”
Rachel caught my wrist.
“Call for a welfare check.
Do not go there.”
I dialed while Sharon moved the twins into the living room.
Ten minutes later, Emily called again.
“I’m safe,” she said.
“He left when my mother threatened to call the police.”
“Did he get the clinic file?”
“He deleted the recording from my account.”
Rachel took the phone.
“The clinic should retain the original.”
“They say the authorization came through Mark’s patient portal.
His password and security answers were used.”
“Did you access it?”
“No.
I thought Mark did.”
I felt the room tilt.
“Then who authorized the donor procedure?”
Emily’s breathing caught.
“My mother knew our password because she helped us complete the insurance forms,” she said.
“Why would your mother authorize it?” Rachel asked.
“She wouldn’t.”
A knock sounded at my front door.
Diane stood outside holding a brown accordion folder.
“I heard about the custody filing,” she said.
“Mark called me this morning.”
“What did he want?”
“He offered to pay off my mortgage if I testified that you never contacted him.”
Rachel opened the door wider.
“Do you have proof?”
Diane placed her phone on the table.
“The whole call is recorded.”
Then she pushed the folder toward me.
“These are copies of the fertility bills Mark asked me to keep years ago.
One charge never made sense.”
Rachel opened the folder and found an invoice from our old clinic.
The patient name was mine, but the account number belonged to someone else.
“Whose account is that?” I asked.
Diane sat down heavily.
“Mark’s brother, Daniel.
He worked at the clinic when you were being treated.”
Rachel pulled out her laptop.
“If Daniel accessed Claire’s records or altered a report, the clinic will have an audit trail.”
Diane’s phone lit up with a message from Mark.
TESTIFY FOR ME OR I WILL MAKE SURE YOU NEVER SEE THOSE BOYS.
She turned the screen so we could all read it.
May you like
Before anyone could speak, a second message appeared.
AND TELL CLAIRE THE ORIGINAL CLINIC FILE IS ALREADY GONE.
