Chapter 4 - FELIX TELLS THE TRUTH HE KNOWS
Felix called Sawyer two days later.
Daniel asked first.
I checked with the child-services investigator.
Short call.
No adults questioning either child.
Felix appeared on the screen with damp hair and a soccer shirt.
“Hi.”
Sawyer sat beside me holding Rex.
“Hi.”
Felix immediately said:
“I didn’t want your room.”
Sawyer looked at him.
“My mom said Uncle Adrian said it was mine.”
“He didn’t.”
“I know.”
“Did you put my things in boxes?”
“No.”
“Did you touch Rex?”
“No.”
Sawyer nodded.
“Okay.”
Then Felix began crying.
Not dramatically.
Just sudden tears.
“I thought we were staying because our apartment broke.”
“It didn’t.”
“I know.”
Daniel moved closer off-camera.
Felix looked toward him.
Then back.
“I’m sorry she hit you.”
Sawyer answered:
“You didn’t.”
That was all he needed to say.
The Cousin was not our antagonist.
I refused to turn him into evidence of his mother’s character.
After the call, Daniel told us more.
During his divorce from Imogen, she repeatedly referred to herself as “the only active family branch.”
He thought it was rich-family nonsense.
Probably was.
But nonsense can control money.
Adrian called the Marlowe Children’s Opportunity Foundation.
The independent administrator would not discuss confidential governance details over the phone.
Correct.
They scheduled a meeting.
Meanwhile, police got a warrant for the suspected unauthorized device.
Imogen’s apartment contained an iPad Mini restored from Adrian’s old backup.
Her lawyer immediately said it had been created while transferring family photographs after Beatrice died.
Possible.
The device itself did not prove intent.
Then login records.
It had accessed Adrian’s messaging account.
It had accessed our vehicle-location service.
It had accessed an old family email account belonging to Beatrice.
Beatrice was dead.
The account should have been closed.
It was still active because Imogen used it for estate administration.
That email remained a recovery contact on several old family services.
Weak systems.
Then local drafts on the iPad.
One read:
Rosalind refuses to accept that Sawyer needs another arrangement.
Exactly the language in the fake message.
Another:
If she goes out, start clearing the room.
The draft had been created on the restored iPad shortly before the message was sent to Imogen’s own phone.
Strong.
Not yet a final forensic conclusion.
Her defense could argue somebody else used the device.
But the chain tightened.
Then police found photographs from our house.
Sawyer’s empty shelves.
Packed boxes.
Felix’s backpack on the bed.
Timestamped before I returned.
One unsent email attached the photographs.
To:
Hannah Cole.
Subject:
Household Change Documentation.
Draft text:
Adrian has begun transitioning Sawyer out of the marital home pending reassessment.
False.
Another unsent draft went to the Marlowe Foundation.
Adrian branch qualification should remain inactive while stepchild residency is unsettled.
There.
“Branch qualification.”
Adrian looked at me.
“I need to read the foundation instrument.”
“Now.”
He nodded.
Then I made my own mistake.
I did not wait.
I emailed Sawyer’s adoption caseworker.
Subject:
IMOGEN IS SABOTAGING THE ADOPTION FOR FAMILY MONEY.
I described:
The fake texts.
The stripped room.
The device.
The foundation draft.
Then I wrote:
She is trying to keep Felix as the only beneficiary.
That last sentence was not proven.
It was my inference.
I hit send.
Adrian stared at me.
“You sent that?”
“Yes.”
“Without Hannah?”
“I needed the evaluator to know.”
“We don’t know Felix is the only beneficiary.”
“She’s obviously doing this for—”
“We don’t know.”
He was right.
The caseworker responded two hours later.
Given the allegations of identity misuse, household staging, recent violence, and possible financial conflict, the home-study update will remain paused until independent review is completed.
Then:
Please distinguish verified facts from suspected financial motive in future communications.
I felt heat rise into my face.
I had criticized Adrian for making a secret decision because he feared what I would do.
Then I had done exactly what he feared.
I sent a correction.
The financial motive remains under investigation. I should not have stated the Felix-beneficiary theory as established fact.
Humiliating.
Necessary.
The pause remained.
My anger had not caused Imogen’s scheme.
May you like
But my choice gave the adoption evaluator another reason to slow down.
That consequence stayed.
