Chapter 4
The answer began with a lawyer named Gregory Sloane.
He practiced family law.
Specifically, high-conflict custody and guardianship.
Cordelia had paid him a consultation fee eleven days before the wedding.
Alaric discovered it because the payment came from a Hartwell family-office account.
Cordelia still held limited authority to charge family legal expenses below a certain threshold.
That privilege ended the day Alaric saw the invoice.
Monica contacted Sloane.
He cited confidentiality.
Correctly.
They did not get his advice.
But the invoice description was not privileged.
Consultation — minor child care authority / parental instability.
Elowen stared at the words.
“She talked to a guardianship lawyer about Bram.”
Monica corrected her.
“Likely.”
“Who else?”
“Possibly another minor.”
Elowen gave her a look.
Monica continued.
“We prove things.”
Alaric called Cordelia.
She refused to discuss it.
That answer was more revealing than a denial.
Then Alaric remembered something from three months earlier.
His mother had started asking unusually specific questions.
Who signed Bram’s school accommodation plan?
Who could approve medical travel if Alaric was overseas?
What happened if Elowen became unable to make decisions?
Who served as alternate trustee for Bram’s care account?
At the time, Alaric thought Cordelia was being morbid.
Now the questions looked procedural.
Bram had a dedicated care trust.
Not a lawsuit jackpot.
Alaric funded it himself after the accident.
It paid for long-term therapy, adaptive equipment, specialized transportation, home modifications, and future support.
Current value:
$6.4 million.
An independent bank served as trustee.
Elowen and Alaric were the authorized care decision-makers.
Cordelia had no access.
But family court could alter decision-making authority if both parents were found unfit or if a court concluded one parent presented a serious risk and the other could not manage care.
Monica looked at Alaric.
“How much do you travel?”
“Too much.”
“How much?”
“Eight to ten days most months.”
“And who manages Bram’s daily care?”
“Elowen.”
Cordelia had an obvious legal theory if she wanted one.
Absent father.
Volatile mother.
Disabled child requiring specialized care.
Elowen understood.
“She wanted to make me look dangerous.”
Monica remained cautious.
“Maybe.”
“Again?”
“Yes.”
Elowen stood.
“She moved my son behind a tent, pushed his wheelchair while he locked it, and prepared cameras because she knew I’d react.”
“That establishes provocation.”
Monica met her eyes.
“Not yet the purpose.”
Alaric looked at the trust file.
“What could my mother gain if Elowen lost decision-making authority?”
“Control, potentially.”
“Money?”
“Not automatically.”
The trustee remained independent.
Cordelia could not write herself a check simply by becoming guardian.
That mattered.
So if this was about money, the path was indirect.
If it was about control, the path was much clearer.
Then Monica found another invoice.
Cordelia had paid a deposit to Hawthorne Ridge Academy.
A private residential school in Connecticut specializing in children with physical disabilities.
Deposit:
$25,000.
Student name:
Bram Hartwell.
Elowen went completely still.
Enrollment start date:
May you like
September.
She had never heard of the school.
