CHAPTER 20

Amanda’s POV

The letter wouldn’t stop staring at me.

It sat on my desk like a loaded weapon, its typed words burned into my memory even though I’d read it only once. Review custody arrangements. Best interests of the child. Polite language wrapped around a dagger.

Ryan had made his move.

My hands were shaking so badly I had to press them flat against the desk to stop it. Levi was still doodling in the corner, humming softly to himself, oblivious. The innocence in his voice cut through me, made the edges of panic sharper.

If I lost him—

I grabbed my phone before the thought could finish. My chest was tight, breaths shallow, like the walls of my office were caving in. My fingers trembled as I scrolled, hitting Adam’s name.

He picked up on the second ring. “Amanda?”

The sound of his voice undid me. I pressed the phone harder to my ear, swallowing hard. “Adam. Thank God.”

There was a pause, like he was already bracing himself. “What happened?”

I forced myself to look at Levi. He was busy shading a sun yellow on his paper, smiling. Too young, too happy to carry the weight of what had just landed on my desk.

“I got a letter,” I whispered, my voice hoarse. “From Ryan’s lawyer. Custody. He’s… he’s coming for Levi.”

Adam swore softly on the other end, his anger barely restrained. “I should’ve been there already. I promised I’d come pick him up two days ago, and—”

“It’s not your fault,” I cut in quickly, though my voice cracked. “But Adam… I don’t know what to do. What if they believe him? What if—”

“Stop,” he said firmly, his tone sharp but steady. “Breathe, Amanda.”

I pressed a hand to my chest, but the air still came in short, shallow bursts.

“You hear me?” he went on, his voice dropping softer now. “No one—no one—is taking Levi away from you. Not while I’m here. Not while you’re his mother.”

Tears blurred my vision, hot and humiliating. “He’ll twist everything. You know he will. The hospital already put me on tight watch. And The media won’t let up. It’s all adding up against me—”

“That’s exactly what he wants you to think,” Adam interrupted. “He wants you rattled. He wants you second-guessing yourself, because that’s how he wins. Don’t give him that.”

I pressed the phone tighter, clinging to his steadiness like a rope. “So what do I do?”

“First, you calm down,” he said. “Then you get a lawyer. Someone tough, someone who won’t let Ryan’s money or influence scare them.”

A bitter laugh escaped me. “You make it sound simple.”

“It’s not simple,” Adam admitted. “But it’s doable. And you’re not alone in this.”

I closed my eyes, letting his words sink in, forcing my lungs to slow their frantic pace.

“Custody cases are brutal,” he continued, his tone shifting into something more serious, practical. “They’re not just about proving you’re a good parent they’re about proving the other one isn’t. Ryan will come armed with every half-truth, every shred of gossip, anything that makes you look unstable.”

My throat tightened. Images of the past month flashed me snapping at Carter, reporters snapping photos of me looking exhausted, the headlines calling me unprofessional. Selene’s fingerprints were all over it.

“He’s going to lie,” I whispered. “Or twist things until they look like the truth.”

“Exactly,” Adam said. “Which means you need to be ready. Start gathering evidence now. Every chart, every patient testimony, every scrap of proof that you’re not what they’re painting you as. Don’t wait until you’re in front of a judge to scramble for it.”

The panic inside me began shifting—less frantic, more focused. My fingers curled around the edge of the desk. “You think someone plotted this,” I said slowly. “You think this isn’t just… coincidence.”

Adam didn’t hesitate. “Of course someone did. These things don’t explode on their own, Amanda. The timing’s too neat. Too perfect. Someone’s been pulling strings.”

The words hit harder than I wanted them to. My mind spun. For weeks, I’d been telling myself it was just the drink, just bad luck, just my own mistakes amplified under the wrong spotlight. But what if it wasn’t? What if every slip, every headline, every whisper in the hospital halls had been fed, encouraged, orchestrated?

My thoughts snagged on one name. One face.

Ryan.

Who else had motive? Who else had power enough to make my life unravel piece by piece?

The restraining order, his wounded pride, his obsession with Levi it all lined up too easily.

“Adam,” I said, my voice tight. “What if it’s him? What if Ryan’s the one who…”

I trailed off, unable to finish.

Adam’s tone sharpened. “If it is, then he’s even more dangerous than I thought. But you don’t need to prove it right now. What you need to do is prepare. Let him underestimate you. Let him think you’re falling apart. And then you hit back where it hurts.”

For the first time since the letter arrived, a spark of something besides panic flickered in my chest. Not hope, not yet but resolve.

“I don’t want Levi dragged into this,” I murmured.

“Then fight harder,” Adam said simply. “Because if Ryan thinks he can take Levi, it’s because he believes you’ll crumble. Prove him wrong.”

I exhaled shakily, nodding even though he couldn’t see me. “Alright. I’ll call a lawyer. I’ll start pulling everything I can. I won’t let him win.”

“That’s the Amanda I know,” Adam said, his voice softening. “Strong. Stubborn. Fierce. Don’t let him take that from you.”

For a moment, silence stretched between us comfortable, steady. I let it settle in my chest, soothing the frayed edges of my nerves.

When we hung up, I sat in my office for a long time, staring at the envelope again. The fear hadn’t disappeared. But it wasn’t controlling me anymore.

Levi padded over to me, holding his drawing. “Mom? You look sad.”

I swallowed hard, forcing a smile. “Just thinking, baby. Nothing you need to worry about.”

He climbed into my lap, and I wrapped my arms around him, burying my face in his hair. His warmth, his laughter, the way he trusted me completely this was what I was fighting for.

Ryan could throw lawyers, money, influence at me. He could dig up every mistake I’d ever made. He could twist, lie, and scheme.

But he wasn’t going to take Levi.

Not while I had breath in my body.

I pressed a kiss to Levi’s head, my arms tightening around him.

If this was war, then so be it.

No one could take my son from me.