Chapter 6: The Documents Hidden in His Office
Damon refused to explain what he meant.
Instead, he ordered Bianca to get into his car.
She refused.
He turned toward Monique.
"You're coming with me. Now.""
Monique held Micah's hand.
"Where?""
"Home.""
"I'm not going anywhere with you.""
Damon leaned closer.
"You want your son back? Then stop making this difficult.""
Monique looked down at Micah.
The little boy was watching his father with frightened eyes.
She immediately stepped between them.
"Don't speak to me like that in front of him.""
Damon laughed bitterly.
"You think you're going to walk into a courtroom with a recording and a few old letters and win?""
Monique didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
Bianca was already calling someone.
"Who are you calling?"" Damon demanded.
"My lawyer.""
"Don't be ridiculous.""
"I've been ridiculous long enough.""
She turned away from him.
"Hello, Rachel? It's Bianca. I need you to meet me today.
Yes, it's about Damon. No, I can't explain over the phone. I think my identity has been used in a financial transaction.""
She paused.
Then added:
"And I need to discuss some documents involving a child.""
Damon stared at her.
"You wouldn't.""
Bianca ended the call.
"Watch me.""
Mrs. Ellis offered to take Micah to the school's administrative office while Monique and Bianca spoke with the principal.
Monique hesitated.
Micah wrapped both arms around her waist.
"Please don't go.""
She crouched.
"I'm not going away, sweetheart.""
"Promise?""
Monique held his face between her hands.
"I promise you'll know where I am.""
He nodded, though his eyes remained worried.
She kissed his forehead and watched Mrs. Ellis lead him toward the office.
Then she turned to Bianca.
"Why are you helping me?""
Bianca looked down.
For several seconds, she couldn't find the right words.
"Because I believed him.""
Monique waited.
"I believed everything he said about you. I helped him explain your absence to Micah. I bought things for him because I thought I was helping a little boy whose mother had abandoned him.""
Her voice broke.
"I even told him he should stop asking about you because it upset his father.""
Monique looked away.
Bianca continued.
"I can't undo that. But I can stop pretending I didn't see what was happening.""
Monique studied her face.
"Do you love him?""
Bianca gave a small, painful smile.
"I love the little boy. I don't know what I feel about the man anymore.""
They drove to Damon's house together.
The large white house stood at the end of a quiet street lined with trimmed hedges and expensive cars.
Monique hadn't seen it since the night she left.
The front door still had the brass knocker she had chosen.
The flower pots were different.
But the small crack near the entrance was still there.
Micah had made it when he dropped his toy truck.
Monique touched it briefly.
"I remember that.""
Bianca unlocked the door.
Inside, everything looked perfect.
Cream-colored furniture.
A polished wooden staircase.
Family photographs arranged across the hallway.
Bianca stopped in front of one.
It showed Damon and Micah at the beach.
Damon was holding the boy on his shoulders.
Monique looked closer.
There was a second photograph beside it.
Bianca and Micah in matching Christmas sweaters.
Monique swallowed.
"He made it look like I never existed.""
Bianca lowered her eyes.
"Yes.""
They walked toward the study.
Damon had always kept his important papers in a locked cabinet behind his desk.
Bianca knew the combination.
She had watched him open it countless times.
She entered the numbers.
The lock clicked.
Inside were several folders, envelopes, and a small metal box.
Monique began searching.
The first folder contained bank statements.
The second contained company registrations.
Then she found an envelope with her name.
Her hands stopped moving.
*MONIQUE CARTER — PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE.*
She opened it.
Eleven letters.
Every single one.
Some were written on birthday cards.
Others were simple notes asking about Micah's health.
One contained a photograph of a small knitted sweater Monique had made.
She picked up the first letter.
The date was written across the top.
Three weeks after she had left.
My darling Micah, I don't know whether you can understand this yet, but Mommy thinks about you every morning. I hope you are eating well. I hope you still like your dinosaur stories. I hope Daddy lets you sleep with your blue blanket.
Monique pressed the paper against her chest.
Bianca looked away to give her privacy.
Then Monique opened the second folder.
It contained copies of emails between Damon and a family lawyer.
One message caught her attention.
The subject line was:
*MATERNAL CONTACT — RISK ASSESSMENT.*
She read the first paragraph.
Then her eyes widened.
The lawyer had warned Damon that the signed separation agreement did not automatically terminate Monique's parental rights.
There was no legal basis to prevent her from seeking custody or visitation.
But Damon had written back:
I need the school to continue treating her as an absent parent. Once the child adjusts to the new household, we can present the arrangement as established.
Monique read it again.
He hadn't simply reacted badly to their separation.
He had planned to make her disappearance permanent.
Bianca sat down.
"Oh, Damon.""
Monique continued searching.
At the bottom of the cabinet, she found a thick blue folder.
Inside was a hospital document dated the day Micah was born.
A neonatal consent form.
The mother's signature was missing.
The father's signature appeared instead.
But there was another page attached.
A document authorizing a change to the baby's emergency contact information.
Monique's name had been crossed out.
Bianca leaned over her shoulder.
"Why would he remove you?""
Monique turned the page.
The replacement contact was listed as:
*BIANCA HAYES — FAMILY REPRESENTATIVE.*
Bianca stepped back.
"That was before I even knew him.""
Monique looked at the date.
It was almost two years before Bianca and Damon had officially started dating.
"Bianca," she whispered.
"Did you ever work for a company called Carter Medical Holdings?""
Bianca frowned.
"Yes. Briefly. I handled some administrative contracts.""
Monique pointed to the document.
"Look at the company stamp.""
Bianca examined it.
Her face changed.
"That's my old employer.""
She picked up another page.
It was a corporate authorization form.
Her name appeared at the bottom.
But this time, the signature looked different.
Bianca shook her head.
"I never signed this.""
"What does it authorize?""
Bianca read the heading.
Then she covered her mouth.
"It's a guardianship inquiry.""
Monique stared at her.
"A what?""
"It isn't a final guardianship order. It's a preliminary application asking whether someone could be appointed as an alternative guardian if the biological mother became unavailable.""
Monique felt cold.
The application had been prepared while she was still living in the house.
And Bianca's name had been placed on it before she even knew Micah existed.
A small noise came from the hallway.
Both women turned.
Damon stood in the doorway.
His eyes moved from the blue folder to the papers spread across his desk.
"You weren't supposed to find that.""
Bianca stood.
"You put my name on a guardianship application?""
Damon stepped into the room.
"It was only a precaution.""
"A precaution against what?""
He looked at Monique.
"Against what was coming.""
Monique held up the document.
"You were planning to replace me before you even forced me out.""
Damon's jaw tightened.
"You don't understand the situation.""
"Then explain it.""
He looked toward Bianca.
"She was never supposed to be involved.""
Bianca stared at him.
"Who wasn't supposed to be involved? Me or Monique?""
Damon remained silent.
Then Monique noticed something written in the margin of the application.
A handwritten note.
A name.
And a date.
The name was not Bianca's.
It was the name of another woman.
*Evelyn Carter.*
Monique looked up.
"Who is Evelyn?""
Damon's face turned ashen.
Bianca whispered, "Your mother?""
Damon moved toward the desk.
Monique pulled the document away.
"Why was your mother listed as the original guardian?""
Damon's voice dropped.
"Because she was supposed to take Micah if you didn't survive the delivery.""
Monique stopped breathing.
Bianca stared at him.
"What?""
Damon looked at the papers scattered across the desk.
Then he said:
"There's something about Micah's birth that Monique was never told.""
A phone began ringing in the hallway.
Damon looked toward it.
The caller's name appeared on the screen.
*EVELYN CARTER.*
He answered.
May you like
And the first words that came through the speaker were:
"Did you find the original hospital file? Because if Monique has seen that document, she must never find out what the doctors wrote about her baby.""
