Chapter 14
The divorce was finalized fourteen months after Anna’s birth.
There was no courtroom spectacle.
No last-minute confession.
No Serrano men waiting outside to make Travis disappear.
Property was divided through attorneys.
Elise retained what was hers.
Travis retained what was legally his.
Their parenting plan was far more complicated.
After months of supervised visits, psychological evaluation, parenting education, and documented compliance, Travis received limited structured parenting time that could expand only if he continued meeting court requirements.
All medical decisions involving Anna required transparent communication.
Neither parent could interfere with the other’s access to pediatric information.
Neither could use Millicent as an unsupervised caregiver.
Millicent’s contact remained restricted.
She had complied with counseling requirements but continued minimizing parts of what happened.
That mattered.
The court cared less about apologies than demonstrated judgment.
Travis accepted the final order.
Whether because he had changed or because fighting had become expensive, Elise could not know yet.
She no longer needed to know.
Augusto sat in the back of the courtroom during the final hearing.
He did not speak.
Afterward, Elise found him in the hallway.
“Done.”
He nodded.
“Done.”
“You’re not going to say anything threatening?”
“I prepared several options.”
“Dad.”
“I discarded them.”
She laughed.
It came out unexpectedly.
So did his.
For a few seconds, they were simply father and daughter.
Not Mafia boss and protected child.
Not powerful patriarch and woman recovering from control.
Then Anna started crying in her stroller.
Augusto immediately reached down.
Elise slapped his hand lightly away.
“You always pick her up too fast.”
“She’s crying.”
“She dropped her toy.”
“She sounds devastated.”
“She’s fourteen months old. Everything sounds devastating.”
Augusto looked offended on Anna’s behalf.
Elise handed him the toy instead.
“Give her that.”
He did.
Anna stopped crying instantly.
Augusto stared at his granddaughter.
“She manipulated me.”
Elise smiled.
“No. She communicated.”
May you like
Augusto looked at his daughter.
He understood the correction was about more than the toy.
