Chapter 4: The First Move
I contacted a lawyer the next day.
Her name was Margaret Hale. She had been a friend of Rose’s for many years. When I explained the situation and showed her the notebook and recordings, her expression grew very serious.
“This is strong evidence,” she said. “Not just for custody. This could also support a case for emotional and possibly physical abuse. But we need to be careful. Arthur is going to fight dirty.”
“I don’t care how dirty he fights,” I replied. “I’m not letting him throw those girls away.”
Margaret nodded.
“Then our first step is to file for emergency custody. We’ll use the notebook and recordings as evidence that Arthur is unfit. We should also prepare for him to try and paint you as too old to care for three young girls.”
I thought about that for a moment.
“Then we need more,” I said. “Rose left something else. An envelope. The girls said it was meant to ruin Arthur’s new life if he tried to abandon them.”
Margaret raised an eyebrow.
“Do you have it?”
“Not yet. But I will.”
That evening, I sat down with Lucy, Rachel, and April.
“Girls,” I said gently, “your mother left one final thing. An envelope. She said it was only to be used if your father tried to throw you away. Do you know where it is?”
The three of them looked at each other.
Then Lucy stood up and walked to the bookshelf. She pulled out an old photo album and opened it. Inside was a sealed brown envelope with Rose’s handwriting on the front:
Only open this if Arthur tries to destroy our family.
She handed it to me.
I looked at the three of them.
“Are you sure you want me to open this?”
Lucy nodded.
“Mommy said if Daddy ever tried to get rid of us, we should use it. She said it would stop his wedding.”
I took a deep breath and opened the envelope.
Inside were several printed photos and a small USB drive.
The photos showed Arthur with his new fiancée in places he shouldn’t have been. But the USB was what made my hands go cold.
It contained videos.
Videos of Arthur threatening Rose. Videos of him yelling at the girls. And one final video — recorded just two weeks before Rose died — in which Arthur told Rose that if she ever tried to leave him or take the girls, he would “make sure she regretted it.”
I looked up at my granddaughters.
May you like
They had been carrying this weight alone.
Now it was my turn to carry it with them.
