Chapter 3 - The Lie Hidden Inside the Custody AgreementThat night, Rowan refused to leave the hospital.
Elsie remained under observation.
Micah slept in a chair beside her room.
Rowan sat in the hallway staring at the floor.
His attorney, Marcus Bell, arrived just after midnight.
Rowan had called him an hour earlier.
“I need everything.”
Marcus understood immediately.
“What happened?”
“My children were abandoned.”
Marcus's expression hardened.
“By Delaney?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have evidence?”
“I have witnesses, medical records, and a child who can tell us what happened.”
Marcus nodded.
“Then we proceed carefully.”
Rowan handed him his phone.
“I want the custody agreement.”
Marcus pulled up the file.
They read it together.
Nothing looked unusual.
Then Marcus stopped.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“This clause.”
Rowan leaned closer.
The document stated that during Delaney's custody periods, Rowan was entitled to emergency contact information and immediate notification of any medical issue.
She had violated both.
But Marcus kept reading.
His face changed.
“What?”
“There's an amendment.”
“What amendment?”
“Six months ago.”
Rowan stared.
“I never signed an amendment.”
Marcus looked at him.
“According to this, you did.”
The amendment transferred temporary emergency authority over the children to Delaney during travel.
Rowan's stomach dropped.
“That signature isn't mine.”
Marcus zoomed in.
The signature looked convincing.
Almost perfect.
But Rowan knew his own handwriting.
“That was forged.”
Marcus nodded slowly.
“We'll have to prove it.”
Then Rowan remembered something.
“Check the date.”
Marcus did.
“Six months ago.”
“I was in London that week.”
Marcus looked at him.
“Which means you couldn't have signed this in Nashville.”
Rowan stood.
“Who filed it?”
Marcus checked.
“Your former attorney's office.”
Rowan stared.
His former attorney.
The attorney who had suddenly resigned from his case eight months earlier.
At the time, Rowan had assumed it was a professional disagreement.
Now everything looked different.
Marcus called his legal assistant.
“Pull every filing involving Delaney Mercer.”
Within minutes, documents began appearing.
There were financial records.
Custody modifications.
Medical insurance changes.
School records.
And one strange payment.
A monthly transfer of $12,000.
Recipient:
Blackwell Family Consulting.
Rowan frowned.
“What is that?”
Marcus searched.
“Private consulting firm.”
“For what?”
“Family mediation.”
Rowan shook his head.
“I've never heard of them.”
Marcus looked deeper.
Then he stopped.
“Neither have I.”
A knock sounded.
A hospital social worker entered.
“Mr. Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“We need to discuss your children.”
Rowan stood.
She closed the door.
“I've spoken with your son.”
His stomach tightened.
“What did he say?”
“He described being left alone with his sister repeatedly.”
Rowan closed his eyes.
“How often?”
“Several times.”
The social worker hesitated.
“He also described being told to lie about it.”
“By Delaney?”
“Yes.”
Rowan's jaw tightened.
“There's more.”
The social worker placed a folder on the table.
“Your son says a man visited the house.”
“What man?”
“He doesn't know.”
“Can he identify him?”
“He described him.”
Marcus leaned forward.
“What did he look like?”
The social worker opened her notebook.
“Tall. Dark hair. Gray coat.”
Rowan's face changed.
He knew that description.
“Did he have a scar?”
She nodded.
“Across his right eyebrow.”
Marcus looked at Rowan.
“Who is he?”
Rowan's voice became quiet.
“Graham Pike.”
Marcus frowned.
“Who?”
“Someone who worked for my father.”
His father had died four years earlier.
Graham Pike had disappeared shortly afterward.
Rowan had never understood why.
Until now.
His phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number appeared.
Stop looking for Delaney.
Another message followed.
You don't know what your father left behind.
Rowan stared at the screen.
May you like
Then came the final message.
Your children are only the beginning.
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