Chapter 5 - JESSICA’S ENVY
Jessica asked to speak with me.
I said no.
Then changed it to:
Through lawyers.
I did not owe her bedside access because she wanted forgiveness or explanation.
Her attorney proposed a recorded proffer.
I listened later.
Jessica and Daniel had spent six years trying to have a child.
Three IVF cycles.
Two miscarriages.
One failed surrogacy.
I knew most of that.
I had cried with Jessica after the second miscarriage.
She held my hand when I began fertility treatment.
Then I became pregnant with triplets.
The relationship changed.
Not dramatically.
Small things.
“You hit the jackpot.”
“You won’t even know what to do with all three.”
“Some people get everything.”
Pain can become resentment without becoming evil.
Then Richard intervened.
According to Jessica:
“Dad said the trust was designed to keep the family balanced.”
False, maybe.
“He said Adam would have wanted Daniel to raise one.”
False.
“He said Maya was considering it.”
False.
“Did you believe him?”
“I wanted to.”
That answer mattered.
Richard offered Daniel and Jessica a formal kinship guardianship after birth.
Not adoption initially.
They would care for Baby C.
I would “recover.”
Later arrangements would be decided.
“Did you know Maya had not consented?”
Jessica cried.
“I knew she hadn’t said yes to me.”
There.
“Then why show up?”
“Richard said she signed with counsel.”
“Did you see the signature?”
“Yes.”
The forged transfer form.
Jessica believed some official paperwork existed.
But not everything.
Then the $75,000.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Did Daniel?”
“I don’t think so.”
The interviewer asked about her line:
“You’re young enough to pop out a replacement.”
Jessica closed her eyes.
“I said it.”
“Why?”
“Because I hated her for having what I couldn’t.”
No legal excuse.
No hidden manipulation required.
Cruelty can be personal even inside a larger scheme.
Then:
“Did you know Richard intended to move Baby C somewhere else after you took him?”
Jessica’s face changed.
“What?”
She claimed no.
Her attorney stopped the interview.
Interesting.
Daniel’s lawyer called thirty minutes later.
He wanted immunity discussions.
Not blanket immunity.
Cooperation consideration.
He had documents.
Messages from Richard.
One:
DANIEL:
Maya still hasn’t talked to us.
RICHARD:
She doesn’t need to. Papers control the transition.
Another:
DANIEL:
Jessica thinks this is permanent.
RICHARD:
Let her.
Daniel had known Jessica’s belief was not guaranteed.
“What did you think?”
Daniel answered:
“Dad said we’d have the baby for thirty days.”
“Then?”
“He said there would be a family placement review.”
“To who?”
“He never told me.”
“Did you ask?”
“Yes.”
Richard replied:
The people funding the transition decide later.
Funding.
Not family.
Daniel had still gone along.
Why?
Richard promised to erase $480,000 of Daniel’s debt to Vance Family Services.
IVF debt.
Investment losses.
House refinancing.
The child was becoming payment.
Daniel said:
“I thought I would end up keeping him.”
Wishful ignorance.
Then investigators found a draft email Daniel never sent.
Dad, if this is what I think it is, we’re done.
Timestamp:
The night before delivery.
He did not send it.
He came to the hospital anyway.
That distinction would later matter enormously.
At the end of Daniel’s proffer, he gave detectives a key.
Vance Family Services archive cabinet.
Richard had told staff nobody opens it without him.
Police obtained a warrant before using the key.
Procedure.
Inside:
Trust files.
Hospital forms.
Payment ledgers.
And a blue binder labeled:
PLACEMENT 3C.
The buyer’s name was inside.
The detectives did not release it immediately.
May you like
Because before accusing someone of trying to buy my child, they needed to know whether the people named in that binder believed they were participating in a lawful adoption.
And for the first time, I understood why the nurse had been ordered not to finish her sentence.
