Chapter 15 - The Serious Setback
At thirty-five weeks and five days, Ava’s doctor discharged her.
Two days later, the Rhode Island court issued a preliminary ruling.
Greyport’s mortgage would remain on record temporarily while the court resolved the forgery and authority issues.
No foreclosure.
No sale.
But no clean title either.
Ava wanted Halcyon free immediately.
The court wanted evidence.
Again.
Then prosecutors delivered worse news.
The black ledger’s chain of custody was strong.
Its handwriting matched Julian.
But Julian’s attorneys claimed entries were strategic notes rather than admissions.
Criminal charges were still being developed.
No immediate arrest.
Ava stared at Elena.
“How much evidence does it take?”
“A lot when liberty is involved.”
“He locked me in glass.”
“That incident is being prosecuted separately at the state level.”
“He forged property papers.”
“Investigators are building the case.”
“He planned to take my baby.”
“They are building that too.”
Ava stood too quickly.
The room tilted.
Margaret caught her.
Ava pulled away.
“I’m fine.”
Elena waited.
Ava sat.
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize for being angry.”
“I need someone to stop telling me to be patient.”
Elena’s expression softened.
“I’m not asking for patience.”
“What are you asking for?”
“Endurance.”
Ava hated the answer because it was correct.
Then Serena disappeared.
Not literally.
Her lawyers informed prosecutors she would invoke her rights and stop voluntary cooperation.
The Luxembourg funds had created substantial exposure.
She no longer trusted the government’s proposed terms.
Without Serena’s testimony, the inside story became harder to prove.
Her recordings remained potentially usable if authenticated.
But defense challenges increased.
Julian publicly declared himself vindicated.
His attorney issued a statement:
The government’s principal accuser has withdrawn from cooperation, confirming that allegations concerning Mr. Ward were manufactured by a financially motivated former employee.
Ava threw the newspaper into the trash.
Then the worst blow came from Max Reed, Julian’s former assistant.
Max submitted a sworn affidavit supporting Julian.
He claimed Ava routinely screamed at Julian.
Called him dozens of times.
Accused employees of spying.
Threatened to “take the baby and disappear.”
Ava remembered the sentence.
She had said it once.
During an argument.
“If you keep missing appointments and treating this pregnancy like a business inconvenience, I’m taking the baby and disappearing to Newport for a month.”
Not kidnapping.
Not fleeing jurisdiction.
Angry exaggeration.
Max removed every word around it.
Elena prepared the response.
But family-court perception tightened.
Julian’s lawyers now possessed one genuine statement that sounded troubling.
Ava had another decision.
Deny she said it?
Impossible.
Minimize?
Dangerous.
Tell the whole truth?
Embarrassing.
She chose truth.
Her affidavit stated:
I said the words during an argument. I was angry. I meant that I would separate from Julian and stay at my own property in Newport. I did not mean I would unlawfully conceal our child. I regret using dramatic language.
Julian’s team called it an admission.
Ava called it oxygen.
One less hidden thing.
Then Max’s bank records surfaced.
Three days before his affidavit, a consulting company controlled by Julian paid him $75,000.
Max claimed it was severance.
No severance agreement existed.
His credibility suffered.
Power reversed again.
Not completely.
Never completely.
At thirty-six weeks, Ava met her obstetrician to finalize delivery plans.
Hospital security had Julian’s photograph.
Serena’s too.
Only Ava could authorize visitors during labor.
After birth, Julian would be notified through counsel according to whatever legal arrangement existed.
Ava hated planning childbirth like litigation.
Then her doctor looked at the blood-pressure reading.
“We may not make it to forty weeks.”
Ava’s heart accelerated.
“Is she okay?”
“Right now, yes.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means we monitor closely.”
Two nights later, Ava woke at 3:41 a.m.
Her water broke.
She stared at the clock.
Then at the wet sheets.
The baby was coming.
Margaret drove.
Elena met them.
Ava labored for fourteen hours.
Julian’s lawyer began sending emails before noon.
Requests for updates.
Requests for access.
Requests for confirmation of the child’s condition.
Ava ignored them.
At 6:22 p.m., her daughter was born.
Six pounds, four ounces.
Healthy.
Loud.
Perfect.
Ava cried when the nurse placed her on her chest.
“Grace,” Ava whispered.
The name she had chosen privately two weeks earlier.
Grace David Monroe Ward.
David for Ava’s father.
Margaret cried harder.
For one hour nothing outside the hospital room existed.
Then Elena’s phone rang.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
Ava asked.
Elena looked toward the baby.
“Julian filed.”
Ava’s stomach dropped.
“Already?”
“The petition was electronically submitted forty-three minutes after the birth was confirmed.”
Ava stared.
“What does he want?”
“Emergency temporary custody.”
Margaret stood.
“On what basis?”
Elena scrolled.
“Maternal psychiatric instability. Repeated hospitalization. Threat to disappear with the child. Dependence on Margaret.”
Ava felt the old trap close.
Then Elena’s face changed further.
“There’s an attachment.”
“What?”
“A statement from Serena.”
Everyone went silent.
Serena had returned.
And in the affidavit, she claimed Ava once told her:
If Julian ever tries to take my baby, I’ll make sure he never sees her again.
Ava stared.
She had never said it.
May you like
But Serena was now supporting Julian.
The insider witness had switched sides again.
