CHAPTER 10: The Clinic Form No Father Signed

The final pages in the envelope were the coldest.
They carried the letterhead of a private behavioral retreat in Vermont, the kind wealthy parents described as therapeutic when they meant hidden. There was an intake assessment Mira had never seen Elliot sign, a schedule for transport after the gala, and one line highlighted in yellow: removal from unhealthy caregiver fixation recommended.
Elliot read the phrase twice.
"Caregiver fixation," he said.
Mira's throat tightened. "They meant me."
Isadora's eyes flashed. "They meant an inappropriate attachment. I was protecting him from confusion."
Leo buried his face again. Elliot saw that and folded the page with deliberate calm.
"You planned to send my son away tonight?"
"After the gala. Quietly. The doctors agreed he needed structure."
"Which doctors?"
Isadora did not answer quickly enough.
Mira whispered, "Her consultant. Not his pediatrician. Not the therapist you approved."
Elliot's hand closed around the papers.
The gala was no longer a party. It was a courtroom without a judge.