THE CUSTODY MOVE
1024 Words
Mara’s POV
“She cannot see the baby yet.” A woman’s b sharp but annoyingly calm voice jolted me out from my sleep.
A man hissed back, “Serena, you’re crossing a line!”
My eyes flew open because I recognized the voice and it was surely Elias’
My heart slammed so fast my stitches ached.
I tried sitting up, but pain punched my abdomen.
“What’s… happening?” My voice cracked.
Elias burst into the room, face flushed, jaw clenched. “Mara, are you okay?”
“Yes…yes I am. What’s going on? Who are you talking to?” I just could hold myself.
“Don’t worry about that, I’ll handle it” he tried to feign a smile.
I could feel my throat tightening up already and my heart racing.
“El what’s going on please? Has anything happened to my baby?”
Elias took a moment as tho contemplating whether to tell me what was happening or not.
“Please Elias what’s wrong?” I folded my hands before him with tears rolling down my eyes.
Has something happened to my baby?
“they’re trying to move the baby. The Blacks want custody access.”
“What?” My chest tightened. “But Adrian said the baby isn’t even his—so why—”
Elias leaned over me, gripping the bed rail.
His eyes were wild with anger I didn’t understand.
“Because they don’t trust you,” he said. “But the baby?
If the test proves he’s Adrian’s, he becomes heir.
They want him without you.”
My stomach turned. “So they want my son but not me?”
“Yes.”
That one word broke something inside me. I didn’t understand what was going on. Adrian really loved me but the thing that broke us was the doubt that the baby wasn’t his and now all of a sudden he wants the baby but not me?
Before I could speak, heels clicked down the hall—slow, confident, graceful.
The door opened.
Serena Black stepped in like she owned the entire hospital. She is Adrian's Aunt.
Silky black hair, red lips, expensive perfume—deadly and quiet.
Two security guards followed her.
“Mara,” she said softly. “You’re awake. Good.”
Elias visibly stiffened.
I forced myself to speak. “Where’s my son?”
“Safe.” Serena folded her arms delicately. “We’re moving him to private family care.
Just until the paternity confirmation. It’s… protocol.”
“I’m his mother!”
“For now.”
“Mrs Cassidy already said the baby isn’t Adrian’s so why do you want my child now?! Leave me and my child alone!”
My breath stopped.
Heat rose behind my eyes.
“Serena,” Elias growled, “stay the hell away from her.”
She didn’t even look at him. “You don’t get to speak here.”
“Like hell I don’t—”
“Stop!” I tried pushing myself upright. Pain stabbed me. “Please… just let me see him. Please.”
Serena’s expression didn’t change.
It didn’t even flicker.
“Once the results come in,” she said. “Not before.”
Then she turned to the guards.
“Make sure she doesn’t leave this room. Doctor’s orders.”
The humiliation burned so deep I wanted to scream.
“I’m not a prisoner,” I whispered.
Serena gave me a small, almost sweet smile.
“Of course not.
But we can’t risk you… disappearing with the child.”
I felt something inside me snap.
“I almost died!” My voice rose, trembling. “I almost died trying to protect that baby! And now you want to steal him from me?”
Serena tapped her nails against her arm.
“Emotional instability is exactly what we are trying to avoid.”
I hated her.
I hated every word that came out of her pretty little mouth.
Before I could lunge off the bed, Elias stepped in front of me.
“Serena. Leave,” he said. “Before I drag you out.”
Her jaw twitched—just once.
A crack in the mask.
Then she turned sharply and left with the guards.
The moment the door shut, I felt air return to my lungs.
A nurse hurried in behind them, eyes darting nervously.
She leaned close. “Miss… the family already submitted early custody paperwork in case the test confirms the baby is Adrian’s. I thought you should know.”
My blood went cold.
“Early custody? They’re planning to take my child?”
She swallowed. “Yes.”
I gripped the blanket so tightly my knuckles turned white.
My baby.
My tiny, fragile boy.
They wanted to rip him away the second he was strong enough to breathe on his own. After five years of fighting and praying to have a child then finally I get him and he’s taken away from me? My husband doesn’t want me anymore? My life was crumbling right in front of me in the twinkle of an eye.
A sudden flash of memory hit me so hard it made me dizzy.
A small hospital room.
My mother crying on the bed.
A man shouting outside the door.
My mother screaming—
“Please! Don’t take my baby! Please… don’t take her!”
Hands pulling me away.
Bright lights.
My mother’s voice fading.
Then darkness.
It vanished as fast as it appeared.
“Mara?” Elias touched my shoulder. “Hey—what happened?”
I blinked hard. “I don’t know. A memory, maybe.”
He frowned. “Of what?”
“I… I don’t know. My mother. Someone trying to take me.”
I The doctor entered, carrying a sealed envelope.
Behind him stood Serena.
And two security officers.
The air in the room froze.
The doctor sighed heavily and met my eyes.
“Mara… the paternity results are in.”
He glanced nervously at the guards.
“And I need you to stay calm.”
My vision blurred.
My jaw trembled.
The world slowed to a single heartbeat.
He lifted the envelope.
- Writer
