Chapter 5 - Ward of the State
""What complaint?"" Ethan demanded, his voice trembling with unrestrained rage as he stepped toward the administrator. ""I am his biological father!""
""There is no father listed on the birth registration,"" the administrator replied nervously, adjusting his glasses while avoiding Ethan's gaze. ""Mr. Sterling has filed an emergency petition alleging the mother is unfit due to severe financial distress, and the alleged father has exhibited erratic, violent behavior on hospital grounds. Until a custody hearing can be held on Monday, this child must remain in hospital protective custody.""
""No!"" Claire screamed, pulling Noah fiercely against her chest. ""You cannot take my baby! Ethan, do something!""
Ethan lunged at Richard, but the two slate-suited bodyguards intercepted him instantly, slamming him against the cold wall. Ethan struggled fiercely, his muscles straining against their grip, his dress shirt ripping across the shoulder.
""Listen to me carefully, Ethan,"" Richard said quietly, stepping close enough that Ethan could smell his expensive cologne. ""Return to the cathedral. Apologize to the guests. Marry my daughter this afternoon in a private ceremony. If you do that, the fraud files stay locked, the child will be placed into your legal custody, and Miss Henderson will leave the country with her life intact.""
""And if I refuse?"" Ethan breathed through clenched teeth, his cheek pressed against the rough wall.
Richard leaned in, his voice a lethal whisper. ""If you refuse, by tomorrow morning your father will be arrested by the FBI, Claire Henderson will be declared an unfit mother by our judges, and that child will disappear into the foster system under a sealed state file. You will never see his face again.""
Vanessa stood in the doorway, adjusting her pearl bracelet, watching Ethan with an expression of cold victory. ""You have until six o'clock tonight, Ethan. My father's car is waiting outside to drive you home so you can change into a clean suit.""
Richard signaled the bodyguards, and they released Ethan, who dropped to the floor, panting and battered.
""Mr. Sterling,"" a female voice interrupted.
A stern-looking woman in a formal brown overcoat stood in the doorway behind Vanessa, holding an official state folder. The Child Protective Services social worker had arrived.
""I am Agent Morris,"" the woman announced. ""Due to the emergency custody injunction filed by Sterling Global's legal team, the infant must be transferred immediately to the neonatal observation wing. Mother must release the child.""
""Claire, don't let them,"" Ethan pleaded, scrambling to his feet.
Two hospital nurses stepped forward with gloved hands. Claire’s screams tore through the ward as they gently but firmly pried the screaming newborn from her arms.
""Ethan! Help him! Ethan!"" Claire shrieked, her nails digging into the bedsheets.
The social worker placed Noah into a mobile incubator and wheeled him out under the watchful guard of hospital security.
As the door swung shut, leaving Claire sobbing hysterically on the bed, Ethan locked eyes with Vanessa.
""You think you've won,"" Ethan whispered, his voice deadly calm.
""Six o'clock, Ethan,"" Vanessa said without a shred of remorse. ""Don't be late for your own wedding.""
She turned on her heel and walked away. Ethan turned back to Claire, who was practically hyperventilating, her hands clutching Noah’s empty blanket.
Ethan rushed to her side, wrapping his arms around her shaking frame. ""Claire, listen to me. Look at me.""
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She looked up, her eyes wild with agony. ""They took him, Ethan. They took our baby.""
""They took him to the fourth-floor nursery,"" Ethan whispered, his eyes narrowing toward the window. ""We have three hours before Richard's judges process that injunction. Pack your things. We are taking him back.""
