Chapter 3
At 8:55 AM, Dashiell's Maybach pulled up to the curb outside the courthouse.
He stepped out, adjusting his cuffs. Camilla stepped out right behind him in a pastel coat.
Dashiell pulled a pen from his breast pocket. "You won't last a week out of the house, Seraphina."
Camilla reached for Seraphina's arm. "Seraphina. Please."
Seraphina looked down at Camilla's hand on her coat. She didn't pull away.
"I packed his inhaler this morning," Camilla whispered, her voice barely audible over the street noise. "He was asking for it. Don't do this to him."
Seraphina took the folder from the lawyer, turned to the back page, and signed her name on the line marked Wife.
She handed it back. "Keep the house, Dashiell."
She turned and walked down the steps.
She hadn't made it past the corner block when her phone vibrated. Creek Bay Elementary.
"Ms. Hale?" the principal's voice was tight. "Dashiell's assistant said he's in a meeting. Leo's crying in the art room. He won't leave."
Ten minutes later, Seraphina pushed open the glass doors of the school.
The art room was quiet except for the sound of a five-year-old hiccuping into his knees. Leo sat on a tiny wooden stool.
On the low table in front of him lay a Crayon drawing.
The principal stood by the window. "We asked them to draw their family home."
Seraphina walked over.
In the center was Dashiell, drawn in black crayon. Beside him was Camilla, drawn with yellow hair and a pink dress, holding Dashiell's hand. Next to Camilla was Leo.
In the bottom corner of the paper, drawn small in grey, was a tiny, faceless figure standing outside a locked gate.
Underneath it, three shaky letters: M-O-M.
Seraphina crouched down. "Leo."
The boy wiped his nose on his sleeve. "I drew the apartment where you sleep now. I didn't know how to put both houses on one page."
Seraphina stared at the grey figure in the corner.
She stood up, smoothed her coat, and looked at the principal.
"Leave it on the board."
"Ms. Hale—"
"Let Dashiell see it when he comes for pickup."