I press my forehead to my knees and try to breathe.
"What do I do?" My voice comes out small. Defeated. Everything I swore I'd never sound like again.
"We file a response. We request discovery on his financial records. And we document everything about your current living situation that demonstrates stability and care for Lily."
My current living situation.
I'm living in a mafia compound because my ex put a Russian mob debt in my name and they know where my apartment is.
How exactly do I document that?
"I'll call you tomorrow with next steps," Patricia says. "Try to rest."
She hangs up.
I don't move. Can't move.
The marble floor seeps cold through my work pants. Somewhere in the house, a vacuum hums to life. Normal sounds. Normal day.
Except nothing is normal.
Jack filed for custody.
The tears come hot and fast. I hate them. Hate that he can still make me cry. Hate that after everything, he still has power over me.
Wait.
How does Jack even know where I work?
Alleged criminal connections.
That's specific. That's not a guess.
My hands shake as I pull up my mother's contact. The betrayal burns fresh, raw, a wound I keep reopening.
She answers on the second ring. "Kristen, honey, I was just thinking about?—"
"How does Jack know where I work?"
Silence.
"Mom."
"I don't—what do you mean?"
"He filed for custody." My voice cracks on the word. "His lawyer claims I work for criminals. How does he know that?"
More silence. The damning kind.
"I thought..." Her voice goes small. Guilty. "He said he wanted to pick you up from work. Try to fix things between you two. I thought if he saw how well you were doing?—"
"You told him." Not a question. A death sentence. "You gave him my employer's information."
"He's Lily's father, Kristen. He has a right to?—"
"He has a right?" I'm laughing again. That unhinged sound that scares me. "He stole a hundred thousand dollars from me, Mom. Put a loan in my name with dangerous people. And you handed him ammunition to take my daughter."
"That can't be true. Jack wouldn't?—"
