Chapter 7
I waited until Noah left for school.
He was quiet this morning.
Scared.
I told him everything would be okay.
That Grandma wouldn't hurt him anymore.
He didn't believe me.
I couldn't blame him.
As soon as the bus pulled away, I grabbed my keys.
I had to meet Lisa.
Now.
I drove to the coffee shop where we usually met.
But I didn't go inside.
Too risky.
Too many people we knew.
I drove to a park on the other side of town.
A park we never went to.
I called Lisa from my car.
"Hey, Sarah! What's up?"
Her voice was cheerful.
Normal.
I wanted to cry.
"Lisa, I need your help. Something terrible has happened."
"Sarah? What's wrong? You sound scared."
"I need to meet you. In person. Somewhere private. Can you come to Maple Park? The one on 5th Street?"
"Now? I have a client meeting in an hour."
"Lisa, please. It's about Ryan. It's... it's bad."
There was a pause.
"I'll be there in twenty minutes."
She hung up.
I waited.
Twenty minutes felt like an eternity.
Every car that pulled into the parking lot made my heart jump.
Finally, Lisa's car appeared.
She parked next to me.
Got out.
Walked to my car.
I unlocked the passenger door.
She got in.
"Sarah, what's going on? You're scaring me."
I didn't say anything.
I just reached into my bag.
Pulled out the second phone.
Handed it to her.
"What's this?"
"Ryan's phone. His other phone."
Lisa looked at me.
Confused.
Then she turned on the screen.
Saw the messages.
Her eyes went wide.
She started scrolling.
Reading.
Her face got paler and paler.
"Oh my God," she whispered.
"Oh my God, Sarah."
She kept scrolling.
Found the photos.
The marriage license.
The birth certificate.
I'd taken photos of everything with the second phone.
Before I'd put it back in the drawer.
Before Diane had changed the safe code.
"He's a bigamist," Lisa said.
"And he's been stealing from his company. And from you."
I nodded.
Tears were streaming down my face.
"Diane knows. She's helping him. She threatened me this morning. Said if I don't sign over everything, she'll take Noah."
I showed Lisa the edited video.
The one Diane had recorded.
Lisa's jaw tightened.
"That's it. We're going to the police."
"No."
Lisa looked at me.
"Sarah, this is a crime. Bigamy. Fraud. Embezzlement. They need to be stopped."
"Not yet. If we go to the police now, Ryan will run. He'll take the money. And he'll try to take Noah. I need to be sure. I need more proof."
"What more proof do you need?"
"I need to know where he is. I need to catch him in the act. And I need to make sure the money is frozen. That he can't touch it."
Lisa thought for a moment.
"Okay. Here's what we do. First, we file for divorce. Immediately. We ask for an emergency restraining order against both Ryan and Diane. We ask for temporary full custody of Noah. And we ask for an asset freeze."
"Will they grant it?"
"With this evidence? Absolutely. This is damning, Sarah. Ryan doesn't have a leg to stand on."
"What about the video Diane has? The edited one?"
"We'll get the original from Ryan's phone. The second phone has the timestamp and metadata. We can prove Diane's version is edited. And we can use it against her. Filing false evidence. Witness tampering. Threats."
I felt a glimmer of hope.
For the first time since I'd come home early yesterday.
"Really?"
"Sarah, listen to me. You have the upper hand here. You have the proof. You have the truth. And Ryan and Diane? They're criminals. They're going to prison. And you're going to get everything. The house. The money. Full custody of Noah. This is a slam dunk."
I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding.
"Okay. What do we do first?"
"First, you come back to my office. We're going to file everything today. Right now. Before they have a chance to do anything else."
"What about Noah?"
"I'll have my assistant pick him up from school. He can stay at my house until we get the restraining order. My kids would love to have him."
"Lisa... thank you."
She reached over.
Squeezed my hand.
"That's what friends are for. Now let's go. We've got work to do."
We drove to Lisa's office.
She had her team working immediately.
Filing the divorce papers.
Drafting the restraining order.
Preparing the asset freeze request.
I told them everything.
Every detail.
Every lie.
Every threat.
They were shocked.
But they were also professional.
And they were angry.
Angry on my behalf.
Angry on Noah's behalf.
By noon, everything was filed.
The judge granted the emergency orders.
Restraining order against Ryan and Diane.
No contact with me or Noah.
Temporary full custody.
Asset freeze on all accounts.
Including the offshore ones.
Lisa's private investigator had already traced Ryan's location.
He wasn't at a conference.
He was in Malibu.
At the beach house.
With Elena and the baby.
The PI had photos.
Ryan carrying the baby.
Ryan kissing Elena.
Ryan living his perfect other life.
The police were already on their way.
They were going to arrest him.
For bigamy.
For fraud.
For embezzlement.
And Diane?
The police were going to her house too.
She was going to be arrested as an accomplice.
I sat in Lisa's office.
Staring at the papers in front of me.
The restraining order.
The divorce papers.
The custody agreement.
It was really happening.
My life as I knew it was over.
But for the first time in a long time...
I felt free.
Lisa walked in.
Holding her phone.
"Sarah? They got him. Ryan is in custody. And Diane... she tried to run. But the police caught her at the airport. She was trying to fly to Mexico."
I closed my eyes.
Tears streamed down my face.
But they weren't tears of sadness.
They were tears of relief.
"It's over," I whispered.
"For now," Lisa said.
"There will be a trial. And appeals. This could take a while. But Sarah... you're going to be okay. Noah is going to be okay."
She handed me a tissue.
"Your son is at my house. He's playing with my kids. He's fine. He's safe."
I stood up.
"Can I see him?"
"Of course. Let's go."
We drove to Lisa's house.
Noah ran to me when I walked in.
"Mom!"
He threw his arms around my neck.
I held him tight.
"Are you okay, baby?"
"I'm fine, Mom. Lisa's kids are cool. We played video games."
He pulled back.
Looked at me.
"Mom? Where's Dad? And Grandma?"
I knelt down in front of him.
Took his hands in mine.
"Noah, I need to tell you something. Something important."
He looked at me.
His big brown eyes full of trust.
"Dad and Grandma... they did some bad things. They're not going to be around for a while."
"Did they go on a trip?"
"Something like that. But Noah, listen to me. None of this is your fault. You didn't do anything wrong. And I'm going to take care of you. Always. I promise."
He thought for a moment.
Then he nodded.
"Okay, Mom. As long as I'm with you."
I pulled him into another hug.
Held him as tight as I could.
We were going to be okay.
I didn't know what the future held.
I didn't know how long the trial would take.
Or how hard Ryan and Diane would fight.
But I knew one thing.
I had my son.
I had my freedom.
May you like
And I had the truth on my side.
We were going to be okay.
