Chapter 2 - The Livestream Archive
Leah did not remove Grace that night.
The recording changed everything.
Instead, she arranged temporary placement for Elena and the baby at a family crisis residence operated by a local nonprofit. The room was small but clean. It had a crib, a working heater, and a door that locked properly.
Elena did not sleep.
Every time she closed her eyes, she heard Celeste’s voice.
The baby actually belongs to Adrian Vale.
At three in the morning, Elena sat beside the crib and searched her phone for every message Adrian had ever sent.
Most were gone.
Two weeks after his disappearance, her phone had been damaged when it fell into a sink. Martin offered to have it repaired. When he returned it, the conversations with Adrian had vanished.
At the time, Elena believed the data had been lost.
Now she wondered whether it had been removed.
Only a few screenshots remained in an old email account.
One showed Adrian standing beside a lake in a dark wool coat, smiling while Elena held the silver ring he had given her. Another showed a message sent the week before the crash.
I told Damian I’m stepping away from the board. Tomorrow I tell my mother about you and our baby. Whatever happens, you are not alone.
Damian.
Elena had met Adrian’s cousin only once.
Damian Vale was polished, charming, and impossible to read. At a restaurant dinner, he had asked Elena detailed questions about her family, her job, and whether she had debts. Adrian later apologized and said Damian treated every new person like a business risk.
The next morning, Leah returned with a legal aid attorney named Naomi Chen.
Naomi placed a thick folder on the table.
“I’ve reviewed the emergency petition,” she said. “Your parents claim you threatened to take the baby to the Vale estate. They also claim you have been telling people Adrian is alive.”
“I never said that.”
“I believe you. But they included screenshots.”
Naomi turned the folder toward Elena.
The messages appeared to come from Elena’s phone.
Adrian is waiting for us.
The Vales cannot keep Grace away from her father.
I will do whatever it takes to enter that house.
Elena felt sick.
“I didn’t write these.”
“Can anyone access your accounts?”
“My parents know some of my old passwords. Sergio helped set up our family cloud storage.”
Naomi pointed to the archived livestream.
“This video gives us enough to challenge their credibility. It does not automatically prove they fabricated the messages.”
“What happens now?”
“A judge will review the petition tomorrow morning. We need evidence that you have stable judgment, a safe plan for the baby, and a reason your family would lie.”
Elena looked down at Grace.
“The Vale inheritance.”
Naomi waited.
Elena explained everything she knew.
Adrian Vale was the only son of Vivian Vale, chairwoman of Vale Meridian, a private infrastructure and technology company with interests across the country. Adrian had never cared much about the company’s wealth, but his ownership stake was substantial.
He once told Elena that if anything happened to him, his children would inherit control of a protected trust when they reached adulthood. Until then, the child’s legal guardian would appoint an independent representative to vote the shares.
Naomi leaned forward.
“Did Adrian have other children?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Then Grace may be the beneficiary of a very valuable trust.”
“And whoever controls her guardianship could influence that trust.”
“Possibly. We need the documents before making that claim.”
A staff member knocked and handed Elena an envelope delivered by courier.
There was no return address.
Inside was a printed photograph.
It showed Elena entering the maternity center three days earlier.
A black car was parked across the street.
On the back, someone had written five words.
Do not contact Vivian Vale.
Naomi placed the photograph inside an evidence sleeve.
“Your parents are not working alone.”
Elena’s phone rang.
Sergio.
Naomi nodded for her to answer on speaker.
Elena pressed the button.
“Where are you?” Sergio asked.
“Somewhere safe.”
“You need to stop this.”
“Stop what?”
“Sending that video to people.”
“I sent it to my lawyer.”
Silence.
Then Sergio lowered his voice.
“You don’t understand what you’re doing.”
“You signed a statement saying I was unstable.”
“Mom said it was temporary.”
“You tried to take my daughter.”
“I was trying to protect everyone.”
“From what?”
Sergio breathed into the phone.
In the background, Elena heard a door close.
“Listen carefully,” he whispered. “There are people involved who can destroy this family.”
“You already destroyed it.”
“I can fix things. Delete the recording and tell the court you misunderstood.”
“Why did Mom say Grace belongs to Adrian Vale?”
Sergio said nothing.
“Did Adrian know I was pregnant?”
Another long silence.
When Sergio spoke again, his voice cracked.
“He knew.”
Elena gripped the phone.
“The messages denying Grace were fake?”
“I didn’t create them.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“Elena, please.”
“Who created them?”
A man spoke in the background.
“Sergio.”
The voice was calm and unfamiliar.
Sergio immediately ended the call.
Naomi replayed the final seconds.
“Do you recognize that man?”
“No.”
Elena listened again.
One word. One voice.
Sergio.
Something about the tone pulled at her memory.
Then she remembered the restaurant dinner, Damian Vale questioning her across the table while Adrian grew increasingly angry.
The voice belonged to Damian.
Before Elena could speak, Naomi’s phone rang.
She answered, listened, and looked at Elena.
“The court moved the hearing forward. Your parents’ attorney claims the child is in immediate danger.”
“When?”
“In two hours.”
Elena stood.
Naomi did not move.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
“The attorney representing your parents is not a family lawyer.”
Naomi turned her screen toward Elena.
May you like
The firm’s website appeared beneath a silver Vale Meridian logo.
“He works for Damian Vale.”
