Part 4
Part 4 · 2 min read ·
“Your chambers?” she repeated.
I looked at her.
“Yes, Margot. My chambers.”
She shook her head.
“No. You can’t possibly mean—”
The door opened again.
A woman in a dark suit entered, carrying a tablet and a folder.
“Your Honor? I’m sorry to interrupt. I’m Susan Blake, the hospital’s director of patient services. Security informed us of the incident.”
She glanced at my face, then at Owen.
“First, I want to apologize for what you’ve experienced here. We’ll cooperate fully with the investigation and make sure your safety and your children’s safety are protected.”
Margot looked from Susan to Frank.
Then back to me.
“Who are you people?”
Susan’s expression remained professional.
“I’m here to assist Judge Hale.”
Margot’s lips parted.
No words came out.
And for the first time in years, I saw something I’d never expected to see on her face.
Fear.
Not fear of me as a daughter-in-law.
Fear of me as a person she had underestimated.
Graham arrived eleven minutes later.
I heard his voice in the corridor before I saw him.
“Where is my wife? Where are my children?”
The door flew open.
He rushed inside, carrying the diaper bag he’d gone home to collect.
His eyes immediately found me.
Then he saw my cheek.
The bag slipped from his hand and landed on the floor.
“Imogen?”
He crossed the room in three strides.
“What happened?”
I looked at him, suddenly exhausted.
“Your mother came to visit.”
His face changed.
“Where is she?”
Frank stepped forward.
“Mr. Whitlock, your mother is currently being interviewed by hospital security. Your wife has reported that she was struck and that your newborn son was removed from his bassinet without her consent.”
Graham stared at him.
Then he looked toward the other side of the room.
Margot was standing beside a security officer, her handbag clutched against her chest.
“Mom?”
She immediately began crying.
“Graham, thank God you’re here! Your wife has gone completely out of control. I was trying to protect Owen, and these people are treating me like a criminal!”
Graham looked at Owen, who was resting in my arms.
Then he looked at my face again.
“Did you hit my wife?”
Margot’s tears stopped.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Did you hit her?”
“She was being unreasonable!”
“That’s not what I asked you.”
Margot drew herself up.
“I may have slapped her. But she was refusing to listen to reason, and Bridget needs a baby!”
Graham went absolutely still.
For a moment, he looked like a man who had been struck himself.
“You hit Imogen,” he whispered, “hours after she underwent surgery?”
“I was upset!”
“And you took our son?”
“I was helping my daughter!”
Graham looked at Frank.
“Is she under arrest?”
“Sir, hospital security cannot make that determination. We have documented the incident, preserved the available evidence, and contacted the appropriate authorities. They will determine the next steps.”
Graham nodded.
Then he turned back toward his mother.
“Leave.”
Margot stared at him.
“What?”
“Leave this room. Do not come near my wife or either of my children without our permission.”
“You cannot be serious!”
“I have never been more serious in my life.”
She pointed at me.
“She has turned you against your own family!”
Graham stepped closer.
“No, Mom. You did that yourself.”