"Pretend you're my wife.

The petition arrived on Monday.

Danny read it first, then Claire.

Then I read it myself, at my kitchen table, after Lily was in bed, with a cup of tea that went cold while I worked through the language.

Tyler wasn't asking for custody.

He was asking for regular visitation — every other weekend, one evening per week, and two weeks in the summer.

On paper, it was reasonable.

Measured.

The kind of petition that looked, to a family court judge, like a father simply wanting to be present in his child's life.

What it didn't say was that Tyler had been absent for five years.

That he'd never sent a birthday card.

That the one time I'd reached out, in Lily's first year, when I was working nights and barely sleeping, he'd responded with a text that said *I'm not in a place for this right now.*

Claire called me the next morning.

"It's manageable," she said.

"His absence is documented.

Your stability is documented.

We respond, we present the history, and we let the court weigh it."

"How long does that take?"

"First hearing could be six to eight weeks out."

Six to eight weeks.

The same timeline as the trust review.

"Claire," I said.

"Is there any connection between the timing of Tyler's filing and the Fierro situation?"

A pause.

"What makes you ask that?"

"Tyler works in finance," I said.

"He mentioned the Fierro family professionally.

If Marco wanted to create instability in my life right now — a custody filing would do it.

It would distract me, exhaust me, and give Giovanni a reason to distance himself from an arrangement that's become complicated."

Another pause.

Longer.

"I can't confirm that without evidence," Claire said.

"But it's not an unreasonable theory."

"Can you look?"

"I can look," she said.

"Carefully."

I thanked her and hung up.

Then I sat for a while.

Then I called Tyler.

He answered on the third ring.

Surprised.

He hadn't expected me to call directly.

"Jess."

"Why now?" I asked.

No preamble.

"Five years, Tyler.

Not a word.

Why now?"

A pause.

"I've been thinking about Lily.

About being in her life."

"What changed?"

"I just — I'm in a different place now.

Vanessa and I, we're starting a family, and I thought — "

"You thought what?" I kept my voice even.

"That you'd practice on the daughter you already have?"

Silence.

"That's not fair," he said.

"I need you to tell me something honestly," I said.

"Did anyone suggest this to you?

The filing.

The timing."

"What?

No.

This was my decision."

"Tyler." I waited.

"Did Marco Fierro's people contact you?"

The pause that followed was exactly one beat too long.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he said.

"Okay," I said.

"Jess — "

"I'll see you in court," I said.

And hung up.

I called Giovanni.

"Marco got to Tyler," I said.

"How certain are you?"

"Certain enough." I stood up from the table and walked to the window.

Outside, the street was quiet.

A neighbor's porch light.

A car moving slowly through the dark.

"He used Tyler to destabilize me.

If I'm dealing with a custody fight, I'm distracted.

If I'm distracted, I'm less useful to you.

If I'm less useful to you, the arrangement falls apart.

And if the arrangement falls apart before the trust review — "

"Marco wins on the original timeline," Giovanni said.

"Yes."

A long pause.

"Jessica," Giovanni said.

"I need to tell you something."

"Tell me."

"Claire found something this afternoon.

In the Fierro company records." He paused.

"Tyler Marsh's firm manages a small investment account connected to one of Marco's holding companies.

It's not large.

But it's a relationship.

A documented one."

The porch light across the street flickered once.

"How long has that relationship existed?" I asked.

"Three years," Giovanni said.

Three years.

Tyler had known the Fierro family for three years.

Long enough for Marco to know exactly who Tyler was to me.

Long enough to have him ready when he needed a tool.

"He planned this," I said.

"Not just the trust clause.

All of it.

He's been building contingencies."

"Yes," Giovanni said.

"Then we need to move faster than he expects," I said.

"The trust review is in three weeks.

Claire needs to file the challenge before Marco's attorney delivers that settlement draft.

If we file first, we set the terms."

"She's already preparing it."

"Good." I pressed my hand against the cold glass.

"And Giovanni — the Tyler connection.

The financial relationship.

Claire needs that documented and ready."

"It's already in her file."

"Then we use it," I said.

"Not to hurt Lily's case.

But to show the court that the custody filing was coordinated.

That it wasn't a father suddenly finding his conscience."

"Are you sure?" Giovanni asked.

"It makes things more complicated."

"It makes things more honest," I said.

"Which is what I want."

A pause.

"All right," he said.

"I'll tell Claire."

After I hung up, I went to check on Lily.

She was asleep on her side, one arm around the stuffed rabbit she'd named Gerald for reasons she'd never explained.

Her hair was across her face.

I moved it gently and she didn't stir.

I stood there for a while.

Then I went back to the kitchen and made a fresh cup of tea and sat down and thought about what it meant to fight two battles at once — and how you made sure the right one came first.

The answer, I decided, was the same answer I used at work when two patients needed me at the same time.

You go to the one who can't wait.