asked, though shame already answered for her.
‘Because you looked at me like I disgusted you,’ she said. ‘And because I was scared if the process became hostile, they’d remove Theo from consideration completely. The caseworker said stability mattered. I thought if I could keep things calm a few more weeks, I could explain when the paperwork was ready.’
‘But I asked for a divorce.’
Her lips parted. A tear slipped down one cheek.
‘Yes.’
One word. No accusation. That made it worse.
Before Oliver could speak, the fire door opened again. A man in a dark suit entered with a folder under one arm. His tie was loosened. His expression had the careful exhaustion of someone who managed other people’s emergencies every day.
‘Mrs. Vale,’ he said. ‘I’m Daniel Price, hospital liaison. We need to talk.’
Maren wiped her face and stood. She swayed immediately.
Oliver reached for her elbow. She let him steady her.
Daniel’s gaze flicked to their hands, then back to Maren. ‘Theo’s biological aunt arrived twenty minutes ago. She’s contesting the emergency guardianship.’
Maren’s body went rigid.
‘No. She signed a refusal.’
‘She says she was pressured.’
‘She can’t take him.’ Maren’s voice sharpened with panic. ‘You read the file. You know why he was removed from that apartment.’
Daniel lowered his voice. ‘I know. But the hospital has to review her claim unless the agency can establish stronger standing for your placement.’
‘What does stronger standing mean?’ Oliver asked.
Daniel looked at him fully for the first time.
‘And you are?’
The answer caught in Oliver’s throat.
Maren gave it for him. ‘Oliver Vale. My ex-husband.’
The word ex sounded final and flimsy at once.
Daniel opened his folder. ‘Your original adoption file approved you jointly as a married couple. The divorce complicates the emergency placement.’
Maren closed her eyes.
Oliver felt the old instinct to solve, to fix, to draft a structure where none existed. But this was not concrete or steel. This was a child in a hospital room and a woman he had abandoned to fight alone.
‘What do you need?’ he asked.
Daniel hesitated. ‘There was a continuation agreement mailed to your former address two months ago. If both parties signed, it would indicate willingness to continue as co-guardians despite separation. We never received it.’
The former address.
Oliver’s stomach dropped.
He saw the envelope before Daniel described it. Thick cream paper. The agency logo in blue. He had found it in his mailbox after Maren moved out. He had stood there in the lobby, angry at the sight of it, and carried it upstairs. He had not opened it. He had shoved it into the bottom drawer of his desk beneath tax forms and old appliance manuals.
Maren turned to him slowly.
‘Oliver?’
He gripped the railing. ‘I have it.’
Her eyes widened.
‘At my apartment,’ he said. ‘I never opened it.’
For a moment, no one moved.
Then Daniel snapped the folder shut. ‘How quickly can you get it?’
Oliver was already moving.
Maren tried to follow, but he stopped her gently. ‘No. You can barely stand.’
‘I need to be there.’
‘You need to stay with Theo.’
At the boy’s name, her face broke open with helpless fear.
Oliver took her hand. It was cold. The last
