Chapter 5 - THE LIST
Tyler kept the notebook under his mattress.
Sarah told him it was private.
The police retrieved it that evening.
On the cover, Sarah had written.
HOUSEHOLD INCIDENTS.
Inside were dates.
Times.
Descriptions.
Emily yelled during breakfast.
Olivia cried for fifteen minutes.
Emily forgot to pack Tyler’s juice.
Olivia grabbed Tyler’s food.
Emily locked bedroom door.
The words looked ridiculous at first.
Then the social worker explained.
“This appears designed to create a pattern.”
“A pattern of what?”
I asked.
Michael answered before she could.
“Instability.”
I turned toward him.
His face had gone pale.
“What are you talking about?”
Michael sat down.
“Mom asked me two months ago whether our house was in your name.”
My stomach tightened.
“It is.”
The house had been purchased with money from my skincare business before Michael and I refinanced together.
I remained majority owner under our agreement.
“Why would she ask?”
“She said she wanted to make sure Tyler couldn’t be displaced if something happened.”
“Something happened to whom?”
Michael looked at me.
I already hated the answer.
“You.”
The social worker glanced between us.
Michael continued.
“She asked whether Olivia would automatically stay with me if you were hospitalized.”
I stared at him.
“And that didn’t concern you?”
“It did.”
“Did you ask why?”
“She said you seemed stressed.”
I almost laughed.
“I run a company from home while feeding four extra people.”
Michael winced.
“I know.”
“Apparently you didn’t.”
The notebook suddenly made sense.
Sarah was collecting normal household moments.
Turning toddler behavior into maternal failure.
Turning fatigue into instability.
Why?
The answer came the next morning.
My attorney, Caroline Reed, reviewed our property documents.
Then Tyler’s guardianship file.
Then Sarah’s financial records that had become available through the child-welfare investigation.
She called me.
“Emily.”
“What?”
“Sarah filed something six weeks ago.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
“A petition to become Tyler’s permanent guardian.”
“That makes sense.”
“He’s already living with us.”
“No.”
Caroline said.
“That part isn’t unusual.”
“The attachment is.”
“What attachment?”
“A proposed housing plan.”
I waited.
“She intended to request that the court allow Tyler to remain in your house even if you objected.”
I laughed.
“How?”
“She claimed Michael had promised the property would remain the family residence.”
“That’s absurd.”
“There’s more.”
Of course there was.
“She included an affidavit suggesting you had become emotionally unpredictable since Olivia’s birth.”
My hands went cold.
“Did Michael sign it?”
“No.”
Relief hit me.
Then Caroline continued.
“But Sarah expected him to.”
I looked toward Michael across the kitchen.
He was feeding Olivia applesauce.
He saw my face.
“What?”
I ended the call.
Then I asked him.
“Did your mother ask you to sign an affidavit about me?”
May you like
The spoon stopped halfway to Olivia’s mouth.
His silence answered first.
