Chapter 5
Julian’s interest in Sofia’s postpartum mental state had started before the birth.
Three months earlier, he contacted Sofia’s obstetrician.
Dr. Melissa Ford documented the call.
Julian asked whether triplet pregnancies increased the likelihood of postpartum depression.
Reasonable.
Then he asked about postpartum psychosis.
Less reasonable given Sofia’s history.
Then:
“How quickly would a hospital intervene if a mother refused necessary help because she was too emotional to recognize she needed it?”
Dr. Ford told him incapacity could not be assumed from exhaustion, crying, anxiety, or disagreement.
Julian asked whether family observations mattered.
They could.
He asked whether a husband could request a psychiatric consultation over his wife’s objection.
A clinician could evaluate if medically justified.
Julian then asked whether the mother could be separated temporarily from newborns during evaluation.
Dr. Ford ended the conversation shortly afterward.
She documented the entire exchange.
Sofia read the note.
“I never knew.”
Dr. Ford looked genuinely apologetic.
“I interpreted it as an anxious husband anticipating a difficult delivery.”
“Did he ever tell you I was unstable?”
“No.”
“Did he tell you I’d threatened the babies?”
“Absolutely not.”
That mattered.
Julian had been gathering information about the threshold for intervention.
But he had not yet lied directly to Sofia’s doctor.
Victor had.
He called a private postpartum psychiatrist two weeks before the birth.
He described Sofia as “highly emotional,” “resistant to family support,” and “possibly paranoid about paternal relatives.”
The psychiatrist refused to evaluate her based on a relative’s description.
Victor asked whether he could reserve an emergency consultation around the delivery date anyway.
The office declined.
He then contacted a private family-transition consultant named Dr. Elaine Hart.
Hart was not a psychiatrist.
She was a licensed clinical social worker who sometimes assisted affluent families with postpartum care planning, custody transitions, and caregiver coordination.
Hart had an appointment scheduled at the hospital.
The evening Sofia confronted Julian.
The same evening Victor tried to carry Miles toward Bianca.
Hart had been waiting downstairs too.
Not only Natalie.
Lorenzo looked at Rebecca.
“You said one woman had the car seat.”
“Natalie did.”
“And Hart?”
“Waiting in the lobby café.”
“For what?”
Rebecca read Hart’s email.
Available to observe family transition if mother exhibits distress around agreed temporary kinship placement.
Sofia’s face changed.
“Agreed.”
“She was told you had agreed.”
Rebecca continued.
Hart had no idea Sofia had refused the plan.
She believed she had been hired to support an already-negotiated family arrangement.
Julian and Victor had created a professional audience for Sofia’s expected reaction.
Third clue.
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They had not only planned to move Miles.
They had planned for someone independent to witness how Sofia reacted when he was taken.
