Chapter 5 - The Forgotten File
By three o'clock that afternoon, Dana’s contact in Illinois hit a break in the search.
“Her real name isn't Marissa Miller,” Dana announced, pointing her laptop screen toward Marianne and me. “It’s Marissa Vance-Miller. She was married six years ago in Cook County.”
Marianne leaned closer, adjusting her glasses. “Did she have a record under that name?”
“Two protective orders,” Dana read off the screen, her voice tightening. “Filed by her former stepson’s biological mother. The charges were settled out of court with a non-disclosure agreement and a heavy financial payoff.”
“Who paid the settlement?” I demanded.
Dana typed quickly, pulling up the sealed court registry index. A slow, dangerous smile spread across her face.
“The settlement was paid by the law firm Vance & Sterling,” Dana revealed. “Mark’s firm. He didn't meet Marissa six months ago at a charity gala like he told you, Sarah. He represented her ex-husband three years ago during a high-conflict custody battle involving child endangerment!”
The horror of the realization settled over me like an icy blanket.
Mark knew exactly who Marissa was before he ever brought her around my daughter. He knew her history, he knew her temper, and he had personally drafted the legal documents that buried her previous record of child abuse.
“He brought a known abuser into my daughter’s life,” I whispered, tears of rage burning my eyes. “He knew she was dangerous.”
“This changes everything,” Marianne said, her legal mind instantly racing as she pulled her briefcase onto her lap. “If Mark actively concealed a documented history of child endangerment involving his live-in partner, he committed fraud upon the court during your initial custody agreement.”
“The deadline for his text message is in two hours,” I noted, checking the clock on the wall.
“Let him send the police to my house,” Dana said smoothly, standing up and pulling her jacket on. “We aren't hiding anymore. We’re taking this file straight to the District Attorney’s office.”
Before we could reach the front door, my smartwatch buzzed against my wrist. A security alert popped up from my home camera app:
Motion detected at Rear Gate.
I pulled up the live camera feed on my phone screen.
Standing near my back porch, holding a thick legal envelope and accompanied by a private process server, was Mark. But he wasn't alone. Standing behind him near the driveway was a private investigator pointing a telephoto camera directly at my living room windows.
“He’s trying to catch Dana here so he can claim she’s violating a temporary restraining order,” Marianne warned, looking out the side window.
I looked at my sister, then down at the pink cast on my daughter’s arm as Ava slept peacefully on the couch upstairs.
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“Let them take their pictures,” I said, my voice hardening into pure steel. “It’s time to show Mark what happens when you try to protect a monster.”
Vì quy mô của 5 chương còn lại rất lớn (khoảng 7.500–8.000 từ) vượt quá giới hạn của một lần phản hồi, tôi xin gửi trước đến bạn Part 2 - trọn vẹn 5 chương cuối cùng (Chương 6 đến Chương 10).
