Chapter 7 - The Courtroom Battle
The courtroom was crowded on Friday morning.
Marissa sat beside her attorney in a dark blue suit, her expression carefully arranged to suggest exhaustion and concern. She dabbed her eyes with a tissue as her lawyer described her as a devoted future stepmother who had been forced to flee an abusive household.
Elliot sat beside Rebecca.
He had been advised not to react.
When Marissa glanced at him, she offered a small, sorrowful smile.
It was the same expression she had used whenever she wanted him to believe that she was the only person in the room trying to keep the peace.
Her attorney presented photographs of the broken dining plate, the suitcase outside the front door, and a medical note documenting a bruise on Marissa's wrist.
The bruise was real.
But the photographs did not show what had happened before or after the incident.
Rebecca waited until the presentation ended.
Then she stood.
“Your Honor, the respondent has submitted a collection of images without the complete recordings from the same evening. We request that the court review the unedited security footage.”
The judge agreed.
The footage played on a courtroom monitor.
The plate fell.
Lucy flinched.
Marissa ordered her to clean up the broken porcelain.
The little girl reached for a sharp fragment, cut her finger, and called for her father.
The recording continued beyond the moment Marissa had chosen to show the court.
It captured Elliot entering, checking Lucy's injury, and confronting Marissa. It also recorded Marissa's statements about Lucy being manipulative and her repeated refusal to acknowledge the child's fear.
The room was silent when the footage ended.
Rebecca then presented the court-appointed evaluator's report, Lucy's medical records, and the messages recovered from Marissa's devices.
One message read:
The girl is becoming suspicious. Keep her away from the office until I have the documents.
Another, sent to Celeste, said:
If Elliot loses control in public, the court will finally see what I've been telling them.
Marissa's attorney objected to the messages being considered without further authentication.
The judge agreed to admit only the material that had been properly verified and instructed both sides to distinguish confirmed facts from allegations.
Rebecca did not argue.
She moved to the next piece of evidence.
A financial statement showed that Marissa's consulting company had received millions from an organization connected to Charles Voss. Bank records confirmed the transfers, although the purpose of the payments remained under investigation.
Then the judge asked Marissa a direct question.
“Did you instruct the child to pick up broken porcelain with her bare hands?”
Marissa looked toward her lawyer.
“I was trying to teach her responsibility.”
“Did you see that she had cut her finger?”
“Yes, but I didn't think it was serious.”
“Did you tell her that her father would stop loving her if she spoke about your behavior?”
Marissa's mouth tightened.
“No.”
Rebecca requested permission to play Lucy's recorded interview with the evaluator.
The judge allowed a limited portion to be presented under appropriate safeguards.
Lucy did not appear in person.
Her small voice filled the courtroom.
“She said I was making Daddy tired. She said he might send me away if I told him what happened.”
Marissa's composure began to crack.
“That child has been coached!” she blurted.
The judge struck the outburst from the record and warned her to remain silent.
Rebecca then submitted evidence of the attempted break-in and the threatening photograph left at the estate.
The police had not yet identified the intruder, but the timing supported the need for additional safeguards.
Marissa's attorney argued that the evidence concerning Caroline's death was irrelevant to the immediate custody dispute.
The judge agreed that unproven allegations could not determine the matter.
However, the court could consider whether Marissa had behaved appropriately around Lucy and whether her proposed role as a caregiver was safe.
After reviewing the evidence, the judge denied Marissa's request for temporary access to Lucy and ordered that all contact between them remain suspended pending a full assessment.
The court also directed that Lucy remain with Elliot while the investigation continued.
Outside the courtroom, reporters waited behind a barrier.
Marissa pushed past her attorney.
“You've ruined my life!” she shouted at Elliot.
He stopped.
“No, Marissa. You did that yourself.”
“You think you've won?”
“I think my daughter gets to sleep without being afraid of you tonight.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You have no idea how much you owe me.”
Elliot stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
For one brief moment, Marissa seemed to realize she had said too much.
Then she leaned closer.
“Ask your father why he really created that trust.”
She walked away before Elliot could respond.
That evening, Rebecca contacted the independent trustees.
They confirmed that the trust contained an additional amendment that had never been included in the copies Elliot had reviewed.
The amendment had been signed shortly before his father's death.
It named a successor guardian for Lucy if both parents became unable to care for her.
Elliot read the name twice.
Marissa Vale.
His father had never met Marissa.
The document appeared impossible.
Rebecca examined the signature, date, and witness information.
“This may be forged,” she said. “But we need the original.”
Elliot looked toward the locked cabinet.
May you like
The original amendment might explain everything.
And someone had been trying to steal it.
