Chapter 11
The document in Ethan’s shaking hands was a formal petition for Emergency Grandparent Visitation and Custody Rights, filed in the state of Iowa.
Patricia wasn't trying to apologize. She was trying to legally force her way into Noah’s life by claiming Lauren was an unstable mother.
Ethan flipped through the papers, his blood boiling. Attached were printed copies of Lauren’s old medical records from five years ago—a brief period when she had sought therapy for anxiety after losing her job. There were also heavily edited, out-of-context screenshots of old text messages where Lauren expressed being 'exhausted' and 'unable to cope' with a newborn.
But the worst part? The photographs.
They were grainy, long-lens photos of Lauren and Noah at the park, at Target, and standing outside Noah’s new preschool. Someone had been stalking them for weeks.
“She’s trying to prove I’m unfit,” Lauren whispered, her voice choking as she read over his shoulder. She collapsed onto the porch steps, burying her face in her hands. “Ethan, she’s trying to take my baby.”
Ethan knelt beside her, his face a mask of cold fury. He ripped the documents away from her sight.
“She can’t,” Ethan said, his voice ringing with absolute certainty. “This is a scare tactic. In Iowa, grandparents have a ridiculously high bar to clear to prove visitation rights, let alone custody. She’s using your past anxiety against you, but she’s forgetting one thing.”
Lauren looked up, her eyes red and terrified. “What?”
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“I am his father,” Ethan said, standing tall. “And I am perfectly stable. To get to you, she has to go through me. And I’m going to burn her world down before she touches a single hair on Noah’s head.”
He pulled out his phone and dialed the top family law attorney in Cedar Rapids. It was time to stop playing defense.
