Chapter 8
Dominic made the irreversible decision three days after Christmas.
He petitioned family court to appoint an independent guardian ad litem for Elsie and to create a court-supervised process for any contact with Clara.
Not Dominic-controlled.
Not Belloro-controlled.
Court-controlled.
His lawyer warned:
“You may lose primary custody.”
Dominic answered:
“If I fight the process, I deserve to.”
Second, he removed Geneva from every family office, foundation board, household role, and trust advisory position.
Not privately.
Through formal filings.
Third, he turned over Belloro Christmas Foundation records to state charity regulators and federal investigators.
Fourth, he ordered all family employees not to contact Clara, Helen Price, Mrs. Bell, investigators, charity vendors, or Geneva.
No threats.
No visits.
No messages.
Anyone who violated the order lost legitimate employment and family support.
Fifth, he accepted that his own criminal exposure would be part of the investigation.
The same files that implicated Geneva also touched Belloro businesses under his authority.
His lawyer said:
“This is not a narrow door.”
Dominic looked at Elsie through the glass wall of the courthouse playroom.
“I know.”
Finally, he did something his old self would have considered humiliating.
He agreed to temporary supervised exchanges and home visits by child protective services.
Not because he had physically harmed Elsie.
Because the household had emotionally harmed her for years while he failed to see it.
The caseworker said:
“Mr. Belloro, love is not the same as protective capacity.”
Dominic hated the sentence.
Then wrote it down.
That was the turn Geneva had not planned for.
May you like
She had counted on Dominic treating courts as enemies.
Instead, he invited them in before she could frame the truth as an attack.
