Chapter 8 - SERAPHINE’S VERSION OF FAMILY
Seraphine requested a plea conference on her assault case.
No-contact order kept her away from me.
Through counsel, she offered:
Plea to misdemeanor battery.
Restitution for medical evaluation.
No direct contact through pregnancy.
In exchange:
Prosecutor agrees not to pursue a more serious reckless-endangerment theory absent evidence of fetal injury.
Reasonable.
State decides.
We could provide input.
I said:
“I want the record to say she intentionally kicked the suitcase.”
Not:
tried to kill my baby.
No evidence.
Then her attorney asked to resolve my civil claims too.
I had not filed yet.
Medical bills largely insurance.
Pain.
Harassment.
Potential unlawful eviction claim? She was not owner. Leander former occupant. Complicated.
Naomi advised:
Focus on safety and documented costs.
No lawsuit for revenge.
Fine.
Then Seraphine sent a written statement through counsel.
I believed Kerensa was destroying Hadrian’s relationship with his father.
No surprise.
Then:
I believed once the baby arrived she would take Hadrian away permanently.
Interesting.
Then:
Leander and I discussed a temporary postpartum separation because Hadrian needed to stabilize the company transition.
There.
She admitted planning.
Then:
Packing Kerensa’s suitcase was meant to make clear that she could leave without disrupting the nursery.
That sentence made me sick.
Without disrupting the nursery.
Like I was removable equipment.
Then:
I did not intend for her to fall when I kicked the suitcase.
She intended to kick it into my legs.
Maybe not fall.
Still.
Then:
I was angry when she refused.
Refused what?
A request delivered through a packed suitcase?
There had been no real request.
Then one lie.
She claimed Leander had already discussed the postpartum arrangement with me.
He had not.
Why say that?
Maybe misunderstanding.
Maybe self-protection.
Then Leander’s lawyer corrected in writing:
No direct discussion occurred before garage incident.
Good.
Even he would not adopt falsehood.
That began separating them.
Small.
Then Hadrian’s conflict-management course.
First session.
He came home annoyed.
“What?”
“The counselor asked if I would have thrown the suitcase if Seraphine were a man.”
“And?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why ask?”
“Because I keep framing it as defending a pregnant woman and not as losing control.”
“Useful?”
He glared.
“Yes.”
Good.
Then my prenatal appointment.
Baby healthy.
Placenta fine.
No signs of complication from fall.
Relief.
But my blood pressure rose.
Stress.
Doctor told us:
Reduce conflict exposure.
Not as moral advice.
Medical.
Hadrian laughed grimly.
“Can she prescribe a new family?”
No.
Then Leander sent us a revised offer.
Not through Seraphine.
His own attorney.
He would:
Drop challenge to house purchase.
Stop contesting Hadrian’s employment review.
Guarantee a fixed education trust for the baby after birth.
In exchange:
Hadrian returns to company for at least three years.
We agree to monthly family visitation.
And:
Kerensa acknowledges she will not interfere with the child’s relationship to Mercer family institutions.
That last phrase.
Too vague.
Naomi said:
“Never sign vague family-obligation language.”
Exactly.
We declined.
Then Leander asked:
“Why?”
Hadrian answered through counsel:
Because my child is not consideration in an employment contract.
Good.
Then Seraphine exploded through family group text despite no direct contact.
KERENSA IS MAKING HADRIAN THROW AWAY THE CHILD’S FUTURE.
Hadrian did not respond.
I almost did.
Stopped.
Then Leander wrote in same group:
Stop discussing Kerensa.
Seraphine did.
That was the first time he publicly corrected her.
Small.
Late.
Still.
Then another document surfaced.
The company’s estate-planning consultant had prepared a slide months earlier:
Succession Risk: Hadrian may prioritize spouse over enterprise after birth.
I stared.
“Risk?”
Hadrian was furious.
But it was not Seraphine’s document.
Consultant had used interviews.
Who told consultant?
Leander.
Then slide:
Mitigation options:
— Clarify inheritance expectations.
— Separate company succession from marital assets.
— Establish descendant trust.
— Encourage family residence during early-child period.
No:
remove Kerensa.
No:
keep baby.
The professional version was legal and cautious.
Leander and Seraphine had turned it into coercion.
That distinction mattered.
May you like
The secret was not a conspiracy of lawyers.
It was two family members weaponizing ordinary planning.
