Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN OUTSIDE
Mara pulled Lily and me away from the door.
She called the police while Diane continued pounding from the hallway.
“You cannot keep my granddaughter from me.”
Her voice sounded nothing like the weak, injured woman she had pretended to be after falling into the table.
“You planned this.”
Another strike shook the door.
“You poisoned my son against his own family.”
Lily buried her face against my chest.
I covered her ears.
The building’s security officer reached the hallway before the police.
Diane shouted that she had every right to enter.
The security officer told her the apartment belonged to a confidential legal housing program.
That was when Diane made her second mistake.
“I paid the investigator who followed the lawyer,” she snapped.
“I know exactly who lives behind that door.”
Her admission was captured by the hallway security camera.
The police arrived moments later.
Diane was escorted from the building.
She was not arrested, but the officers warned her that approaching Lily again could violate the emergency order.
Diane insisted she had not been officially served.
Mara solved that problem immediately.
She stepped into the hallway and handed Diane the papers in front of two officers and three cameras.
Diane read the first page.
Her face transformed.
“You think a temporary order frightens me?”
“No,” Mara replied.
“I think evidence frightens you.”
For the first time, Diane looked uncertain.
Mara continued.
“We have the complete livestream.”
The color drained from Diane’s face.
She recovered quickly.
“A confused child made a mess, and I corrected her.”
“You struck a two-year-old.”
“I barely touched her.”
“The medical report says otherwise.”
Diane looked toward the closed apartment door.
“Emily has always been dramatic.”
Mara stepped between her and the door.
“You are prohibited from contacting Emily or Lily.”
“I know judges.”
“Then you know violating an order is a terrible strategy.”
Diane left with her attorney on speakerphone.
Jason remained on the phone with me.
“Did you tell her the address?”
“No.”
“Did you know she hired an investigator?”
“No.”
I wanted to believe him.
That frightened me more than believing he was lying.
“How long have you known she was watching me?”
“I didn’t.”
“Jason, she tracked me to confidential housing.”
“I told her to stop.”
“When?”
Silence followed.
“When did you tell her to stop?”
“After she was already outside.”
I ended the call.
That afternoon, the complete livestream was submitted to the court.
Mara also sent preservation notices to Brooke, Diane, Jason, and the social media platform.
They were legally required to keep every version of the recording.
Brooke deleted her edited post anyway.
She replaced it with a message claiming her account had been hacked.
Mara smiled when she saw it.
“Third mistake.”
The temporary custody hearing was scheduled for three days later.
That evening, I received an email from an address I did not recognize.
The subject line contained only four words.
Jason planned this months ago.
Attached was a photograph of a document.
May you like
It was a petition seeking full custody of Lily.
Jason had signed it six weeks before Diane’s birthday.
