Chapter 10 - The Hearing Before Dawn.
Claire entered the courthouse with Rachel on one side and Leo's memory card secured in an evidence envelope on the other.
She had barely slept after learning Dominic had planned to leave the country with Mia.
Her fear had burned itself into something colder.
Dominic sat across the courtroom in a navy suit with Evelyn beside him.
He looked calm enough to be attending a board meeting.
When he saw Claire, he gave her a small smile.
It was the same smile he used during negotiations when he believed the other side had already lost.
The judge began with the custody request.
Dominic's attorney described Claire as an absent executive who returned unexpectedly, erupted in rage, destabilized the family company, and removed the children from their home.
The edited kitchen video played on a large screen.
Claire watched herself shout.
She watched herself make the call that froze the accounts.
She watched herself leave.
Then Dominic testified.
"I was frightened for my children."
Claire almost stood up.
Rachel placed a hand on her wrist.
Dominic continued.
"Claire has always been intense, but recently she became suspicious of everyone around her."
His attorney showed the forged medical letter.
"Were you concerned she might harm herself or the children?"
Dominic lowered his eyes with practiced sadness.
"I was concerned she might make an impulsive decision."
Claire felt physically ill.
Then Rachel stood.
She did not begin with the financial fraud.
She did not begin with Sienna.
She began with forty-three minutes of a five-year-old boy's life.
The unedited security footage appeared on the screen.
The courtroom watched Dominic lift Leo by the arm.
They watched him place the child in the pantry.
They heard Leo cry through the closed door.
They saw Evelyn walk past twice without opening it.
Dominic's face changed.
His attorney whispered urgently to him.
Rachel played the moment Leo emerged.
Then she played the cake falling.
She played Dominic grabbing his son again.
Finally, she played Evelyn saying, "Hit him once if you have to."
The judge removed her glasses.
"Mr. Mercer, did you provide the court with an edited version of this footage?"
Dominic looked toward his attorney.
"I didn't prepare the video personally."
Rachel then introduced the messages Sienna had preserved.
Dominic's attorney objected repeatedly.
The judge allowed limited review pending authentication.
One message appeared on-screen.
We need her furious before we mention Daniel.
Another followed.
The kid will be fine.
Then Rachel introduced the photograph of Dominic's passport beside Mia's.
Claire saw Evelyn's head turn sharply toward her son.
That reaction surprised her.
Evelyn had not known.
For the first time, the alliance between mother and son cracked in public.
The judge denied Dominic's emergency custody request and ordered that his contact with the children remain supervised until a full hearing.
She also declined to give him control of the company.
Claire should have felt relief.
Instead, Rachel received a message from the forensic accountant before they reached the courthouse steps.
She stopped walking.
"Claire."
"What now?"
Rachel turned the phone around.
The Northstar account was empty.
The one-point-eight million dollars had been moved again during the hearing.
The authorization came from Evelyn's credentials.
Claire looked back toward the courthouse doors.
May you like
Evelyn had been sitting beside Dominic the entire morning.
Someone else had access to her account.
