Chapter 3 - The Custody Threat
The hospital waiting room smelled like bleach and stale coffee.
I paced back and forth across the linoleum floor, waiting for the doctors to let me see my daughter.
The revelation about the antifreeze meant my family didn't just want to sedate Lily.
They had actively tried to murder my four-year-old baby.
The heavy double doors swung open, but it wasn't a doctor who walked through.
It was a woman in a sharp gray suit, clutching a thick clipboard to her chest.
"Camille Vance?" she asked, her eyes scanning the empty waiting room.
"That is me," I said, rushing forward.
"I am Brenda from Child Protective Services," the woman announced, refusing to shake my outstretched hand.
"I am here to inform you that we are opening an emergency investigation into your fitness as a mother."
I stepped back, feeling as though all the air had been sucked out of the room.
"My fitness?" I repeated, my voice shaking.
"My family did this to her."
Brenda flipped open her clipboard and tapped her pen against a printed document.
"Your fiancé has just been charged with felony child endangerment," Brenda stated coldly.
"And your mother has provided sworn statements that you have been neglecting Lily for months."
"My mother is a liar who threw my baby in a dumpster!" I screamed, losing my grip on my composure.
Brenda’s face hardened into a mask of pure bureaucratic authority.
"Screaming at me will only expedite the removal process, Ms. Vance," she warned.
"Until this investigation is complete, you are not allowed to be alone with your daughter."
I fell into one of the plastic waiting room chairs, burying my face in my hands.
"Who gets to stay with her, then?" I asked through my tears.
"Temporary medical conservatorship has been granted to her grandmother," Brenda replied.
My head snapped up so fast my neck cracked.
"You gave custody to the woman who tried to kill her?" I gasped.
Brenda gave me a condescending glare.
"Your mother is a respected member of this community with a massive estate," Brenda said.
"She is fully capable of providing a safe environment while you sort out your legal troubles."
I watched as Brenda turned on her heel and walked down the hallway toward the pediatric intensive care unit.
A moment later, my mother stepped out of the elevator at the end of the hall.
She was no longer wearing her pearls, but she still carried herself like a queen surveying her kingdom.
She walked right past me without saying a single word.
But as she passed, she dropped a folded piece of paper directly into my lap.
I opened it with trembling fingers.
It was a printed receipt from a luxury car dealership, dated three days ago.
May you like
The buyer was my mother.
The recipient was Brenda from Child Protective Services.
