Chapter 7
The phrase continuity period appeared everywhere.
Bianca’s nurse contract.
The postpartum support agreement.
Victor’s emails.
Julian’s notes.
Rebecca wanted to know why.
The answer came from Chambers, Pike & Leland’s standard custody materials.
In disputes involving infants, the firm often emphasized actual caregiving patterns.
Who fed the child.
Who handled nights.
Who attended appointments.
Where the child slept.
Which adults the child had already bonded with.
Ordinary facts.
Nothing sinister.
Then Rebecca found Julian’s private notes.
He had copied one sentence after meeting with counsel:
Courts generally dislike disrupting a stable caregiving arrangement without reason.
That sentence alone meant little.
Then came Julian’s own addition:
Create stability before conflict starts.
Sofia stared at it.
The note was dated six weeks before delivery.
Another page:
B with Bianca first. Easier argument after 30–60 days.
Rebecca looked at Sofia.
“B is Miles.”
“Yes.”
Lorenzo’s face hardened.
“What argument?”
They did not know yet.
A third note:
Sofia keeps A/C. Shows we are reasonable, not separating mother from all children.
Sofia stopped breathing for a second.
A and C.
Henry and Ava.
B.
Miles.
Julian had reduced the triplets to letters before birth.
The purpose of the one-baby arrangement was becoming clearer.
But Rebecca refused to call the final conclusion yet.
“Why Miles?”
Daniel found no genetic reason.
No medical reason.
No sex-selection reason.
No hidden inheritance difference.
The answer was almost embarrassingly practical.
Hospital birth-order labels.
Baby B could be identified consistently in draft documents before a legal name existed.
More importantly, Miles had no special medical needs and was expected to discharge on the standard schedule.
Henry had mild feeding concerns.
Ava had been the smallest.
Miles was simply the easiest infant to move.
Sofia looked sick.
“He chose whichever baby was convenient.”
“Yes.”
That somehow hurt more than a dramatic reason.
No secret destiny.
No special bloodline.
One newborn had been selected because he made the paperwork easier.
Then Rebecca found an email between Julian and Victor.
Need first nights clean. No confusion over who handled B.
Victor replied:
Bianca takes every overnight. Logs everything.
Julian:
If Sofia keeps interfering, it helps us anyway.
Rebecca read the sentence twice.
Lorenzo looked at her.
“How?”
She did not answer.
Not yet.
Because that sentence could mean several things.
The next email narrowed it.
Victor:
She’ll panic when B leaves.
Julian:
Let her. Hart needs to see the resistance isn’t rational.
Silence.
The scheme had crossed another line.
May you like
Julian was not merely predicting his wife’s reaction.
He intended to use it.
