Chapter 8 - BEATRICE MADE ONE LAST MOVE
Elena read the petition twice.
Then handed it to Alex.
His face went white.
“I didn't know.”
“I believe you.”
That surprised him.
Not because she trusted him completely.
Because his behavior had finally earned enough credibility to make belief possible.
Alex drove to Beatrice’s house.
She opened the door calmly.
“I have rights.”
“No.”
“I am their grandmother.”
“You hid them.”
“I regret that.”
“You investigated Elena behind her back.”
Beatrice froze.
Alex noticed.
“What?”
His mother looked away.
“What investigation?”
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
For once, Alex knew immediately she was lying.
Nathan found the records within days.
Four years earlier, Beatrice had hired a private family-services consultant to examine Elena’s household.
The consultant interviewed neighbors.
Reviewed public records.
Observed daycare pickups.
The final report concluded:
Children appear safe, well cared for, strongly bonded to mother. No evidence of neglect or instability.
Beatrice had paid for the report through the Vance family foundation.
Alex confronted her again.
“Were you trying to take them?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“I needed to know they were safe.”
“You knew where they lived?”
“Yes.”
“You knew what school they attended?”
“Yes.”
“You knew Little Nests existed before I did?”
Beatrice began crying.
“Yes.”
That answer destroyed whatever illusion remained.
She had not simply hidden old information.
She had actively followed their lives.
“You watched them grow.”
“From a distance.”
“And let me believe I had no children.”
“I was ashamed.”
“No. You were controlling the truth.”
Beatrice withdrew the visitation petition after her own attorney warned that her history would become relevant.
But she asked Alex one thing.
“Will I ever meet them?”
He answered carefully.
“That is not my decision alone.”
For perhaps the first time in her life, Beatrice accepted a boundary without trying to bargain.
Weeks later, Elena received the investigator's original file.
Inside was a photograph Beatrice had purchased.
Elena leaving a pediatric hospital carrying three-year-old Mateo.
Alex stared.
“What happened?”
Elena looked at the photograph.
“Kidney surgery.”
His breath stopped.
“You wrote me then?”
“Yes.”
She opened another folder.
A copy of the letter.
But this one had been returned.
Not unopened.
Answered.
The reply said:
Alex requests that you stop using medical events to reopen contact.
The signature at the bottom looked like Alex’s.
He stared.
“That isn't mine.”
Elena nodded.
“I know that now.”
May you like
Because they had just discovered Beatrice had gone further than hiding his mail.
Someone had forged Alex’s signature.
