Chapter 6 - Rising from the Ashes
Over the next six months, my life transformed completely.
I retained one of the top family law attorneys in the state, funded in part by a victims' legal defense initiative and supported by my family. I filed for immediate emergency divorce, full legal custody, and full physical custody of Skylar and Brody.
Philip didn't fight the custody arrangement. His spirit was completely broken. The FBI's forensic investigation into his mother's finances revealed that Dorothy had been embezzling money from Philip's inheritance for over a decade, using her control over him to cover her tracks. Philip wasn't charged as an active co-conspirator in the kidnapping due to lack of direct evidence, but his reputation was destroyed. He lost his job at his firm and moved into a small, rented apartment on the edge of town, living like a ghost.
Meanwhile, I focused entirely on healing my children.
Brody started child trauma therapy. In the first few weeks, he wouldn't let me out of his sight. If I went into another room to do laundry, he would panic. But slowly, with patience, nightlights, and constant reassurance, the light returned to his eyes.
Skylar, my brave young photographer, was praised by local law enforcement for her quick thinking. I bought her a professional camera for her tenth birthday.
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"Mom," she said one afternoon as we sat on the porch of the small, cozy house I rented near their new school. "Are we going to be okay?"
"We are better than okay, my love," I said, putting my arm around her shoulder as we watched Brody ride his bicycle down the driveway, his laughter echoing in the warm summer air. "We are safe. And we are free."
