Chapter 6 - The Turn of the Tide
The day of the legal deposition arrived. The meeting took place in a neutral conference room downtown. Victoria sat on one side of the glass table, flanked by high-powered attorneys, looking smug and victorious. James sat on the other side with his legal team, with Sophia sitting calmly beside him.
Victoria's lead attorney, a sharp-faced man named Vance, leaned forward. "Mr. Carter, we have clear evidence that your household has fallen into disarray since your separation from my client. You have entrusted the care of your impressionable children to a former maid with no formal degrees in child psychology."
Vance slid a folder across the table. It contained photographs that Victoria had taken of the kitchen covered in flour, of the blanket fort in the living room, and of the children playing in the mud in the garden.
"This is what you call a stable environment for the heirs to a billion-dollar estate?" Vance sneered.
Sophia spoke up before James’s lawyers could object. "If I may," she said, her voice clear and resonant.
She opened her own briefcase and produced a thick, neatly bound document, sliding it across the table directly to Victoria.
"Within this file," Sophia announced, "are the official medical and psychological assessments from Dr. Richard Avery, the chief child psychiatrist at New York Presbyterian. You will find that prior to three months ago, Emily Carter spoke an average of twelve words per week. Her current average is over five hundred words per day."
Victoria shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
"Furthermore," Sophia continued, her gaze unwavering, "Ethan Carter’s night terrors have decreased by ninety percent. Dr. Avery explicitly states in his conclusion that the 'creative, unstructured, and emotionally supportive environment' provided in the home has achieved what twelve months of clinical therapy could not."
James smiled inwardly as he watched Victoria’s lawyer skim the documents, his confident expression rapidly crumbling.
"But more importantly," Sophia added, looking directly at Victoria, "we have the security footage from the library from three weeks ago. The footage clearly shows Mrs. Carter searching for, locating, and intentionally discarding the late Clara Carter’s personal belongings with the explicit intent to cause emotional distress to the minors."
Victoria’s face went completely pale. "That... that room didn't have cameras!"
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"I updated the security system the week before you threw the recipe away, Victoria," James said smoothly, leaning forward. "The entire house is monitored. Now, here is my counter-offer: You sign the divorce papers today, you take the initial settlement offer, and you stay permanently away from my children. If you refuse, I will file criminal charges for intentional child endangerment and emotional abuse by tomorrow morning."
Victoria looked at her lawyer, who slowly shook his head. The battle was over.
