Chapter 6 - THE CUSTODY EMBARRASSMENTHE SUED FOR THE TWINS: Then the Judge Read the Misspelled Papers!
Desperate, broke, and facing criminal indictment, Dominic made one final, disastrous gamble. His slimy defense attorney filed an emergency petition in family court, claiming I was an "unfit, mentally unstable mother" who was using my grandfather’s wealth to isolate him from his newborn premature twins.
He actually thought he could use Liam and Chloe as bargaining chips to force a multi-million-dollar divorce settlement out of the Vance family.
Three days later, we stood in a high-security family court chamber. Dominic looked gaunt, wearing a cheap rented suit, sitting beside his attorney. I sat serenely on the other side with Sarah Sterling.
"Your Honor," Dominic’s lawyer argued passionately, "my client is a grieving father who was cruelly barred from seeing his fragile newborn twins at Saint Aurelia Medical Center! Ms. Vance is using her corporate empire to destroy this man’s parental rights!"
Judge Evelyn Vance (no relation, though her stern reputation preceded her) slammed her gavel down. "Silence."
She adjusted her glasses and looked down at the documents on her desk.
"Mr. Bennett," Judge Vance said, her voice dripping with venom. "I have before me the legal divorce decree you handed your wife in the NICU—just forty-eight hours after she nearly died giving birth at twenty-nine weeks."
Dominic gulped. "Your Honor, I was emotionally distraught—"
"You brought your pregnant mistress to the NICU!" Judge Vance thundered. "You explicitly stated on recording, and I quote: 'You and those babies are on your own.' Furthermore, you surrendered all emergency medical decision-making rights in writing."
The judge leaned forward, staring at Dominic as if he were a bug on her shoe.
"And to make matters worse, Mr. Bennett... you misspelled your own daughter’s name on the legal petition. You wrote 'C-L-O-E' while her medical ID band clearly reads 'CHLOE'. You haven't visited them once since that day, nor have you contributed a single dollar to their medical care."
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Dominic’s lawyer turned to him in horror. "You misspelled the child's name?!"
"Emergency petition DENIED!" the judge barked. "Full legal and physical custody is granted exclusively to Audrey Vance. Mr. Bennett is issued a full restraining order and is barred from coming within 1,000 feet of the children or Saint Aurelia Hospital."
