Chapter 5 - The Legal Battle Begins
While the reunion in the hospital was filled with tears of joy, a storm was brewing outside. True to her word, Carmen Vance did not take defeat lightly. Within forty-eight hours, she had hired the most expensive family law attorney in the state, Arthur Pendelton, and filed for emergency temporary custody of Camila, Diego, and Sophie.
The court hearing was set for the following Monday. Because of the emergency nature of the filing, the judge agreed to hear the case in a closed chamber at the county courthouse.
Laura Bennett spent the weekend preparing. She knew that Carmen’s attorney would try to paint Anna as an unfit, drug-dependent, or mentally unstable mother who had neglected her children to the point of near-death.
On Monday morning, the courtroom was tense. Anna sat at the defense table, wearing a simple, borrowed dress that was a little too large for her. She was still weak, her hands shaking slightly, but her eyes were filled with a fierce, maternal determination. Beside her sat Laura Bennett and a court-appointed public defender named David Vance (no relation to Carmen), a young lawyer with a passion for justice.
Across the aisle sat Carmen, looking radiant and untouchable in a tailored navy suit, flanked by her high-powered attorney.
“Your Honor,” Arthur Pendelton began, standing up and adjusting his glasses. “This is a clear-cut case of severe maternal neglect. Client Anna Vance suffers from chronic medical conditions that she is clearly unable or unwilling to manage. As a result, three young children—including newborn twins—were left completely abandoned in a squalid trailer for three days. It was only by a miracle that the oldest child was able to transport them to a hospital.”
Pendelton gestured toward Carmen. “My client, Mrs. Carmen Vance, is a respected member of this community, a philanthropist, and a woman of substantial means. She is prepared to offer these children a safe, stable home, private schooling, and top-tier medical care. To leave them in the custody of a woman who cannot even afford her own medication is a recipe for disaster.”
The judge, a stern-faced woman named Judge Evelyn Carter, looked over her glasses at Anna’s table. “Mr. Vance, how do you respond to the allegation that your client is physically and financially unable to care for these children?”
David stood up, his voice calm and steady. “Your Honor, we do not deny that a terrible tragedy nearly occurred. But we categorically deny that this tragedy was the result of neglect on the part of Anna Vance. Rather, it was the result of a calculated, malicious campaign of financial abuse and medical deprivation orchestrated by none other than the grandmother, Carmen Vance.”
Carmen scoffed loudly. “That is absurd!”
“Silence in the court,” Judge Carter warned, slamming her gavel. “Proceed, Mr. Vance.”
David opened a manila folder. “We have subpoenaed the records of the Vance Pharmaceutical Group, which Mrs. Carmen Vance chairs. We have also obtained the text messages and call logs from Anna Vance’s phone, as well as the voicemail recording left on Mrs. Carmen Vance’s phone on the night of the incident.”
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David walked over to the judge’s bench and handed her a stack of documents. “These records prove that Mrs. Carmen Vance used her financial influence to block her daughter’s access to life-saving insulin. Furthermore, we have the testimony of the social worker, Laura Bennett, and the hospital staff, confirming that when seven-year-old Camila knocked on her grandmother’s door begging for help, Mrs. Vance turned her away in the dark.”
The judge’s eyebrows rose as she began reading the documents. The atmosphere in the courtroom shifted instantly.
