Chapter 4 - WHY GRACE MATTERED
Oscar’s next words were quieter.
“If Lucy files anything after the baby comes, I’m asking for emergency custody.”
Patricia:
“What?”
Oscar:
“You heard me.”
Patricia:
On what grounds?
Oscar:
Postpartum instability.
I felt sick.
Patricia:
She isn’t unstable.
Oscar:
She already has anxiety in her chart.
True.
I had panic disorder at twenty-four.
Treated.
Stable.
Oscar knew.
Patricia:
That doesn’t make her dangerous.
Oscar:
Nobody said dangerous.
Then:
“Just overwhelmed.”
The word sounded gentle.
That made it worse.
He continued:
“If she tries to throw me out, I document that she’s irrational, took the baby somewhere unapproved, refuses support—”
Patricia:
You’re talking about your wife.
Oscar:
I’m talking about protecting my daughter.
There.
The phrase.
Protecting my daughter.
I stared at Grace.
The same baby Oscar had threatened to use.
Patricia’s recorded voice became sharper.
“I will not help you take a newborn from Lucy.”
Oscar:
“I’m not taking anybody. I need leverage.”
The room went silent.
Ray stood.
Walked to the kitchen.
Came back.
He needed movement.
I could not move.
Teresa let the recording continue.
Patricia:
That’s sick.
Oscar:
No, sick is working sixty hours a week and still having no say in the home I pay for because her dead mother’s name money bought the down payment.
My mother had been dead nine years.
He always praised her.
At our wedding he toasted:
“Laura Mercer helped give us our first home even if she couldn’t be here.”
I nearly vomited.
Then Oscar mentioned his business.
That was new.
A small commercial flooring company he owned with his cousin.
I knew it was struggling.
I did not know how much.
He said:
“If I cannot show stable housing and collateral, the extension dies.”
Patricia:
You said the condo wasn’t collateral.
Oscar:
Not yet.
Teresa stopped.
Medina stared at the documents.
There.
A financial motive existed.
But not one simple enough to explain everything.
“What extension?”
I asked.
“We’re finding out,” Teresa said.
Medina looked at me.
“Did Oscar ever ask you to pledge the condo for his business?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“January.”
“What did you say?”
“No.”
“How clearly?”
“Very.”
That changed the room.
A month after I became pregnant, Oscar asked whether we could use some condo equity to refinance his business debt.
I said no.
Not because I wanted him to fail.
Because Grace was coming.
Because my home was the only asset my mother left me.
Because Oscar had already used our joint savings twice for his company.
He called me unsupportive.
We fought.
Then he apologized.
I thought it ended.
May you like
It had not.
It changed tactics.
