Fletch and Jolene sat in the row behind her.
Vivian sat alone.
She wore gray. No jewelry. No red lipstick. Dorothy noticed that immediately and hated herself, briefly, for noticing. But grief sharpens strange things.
Emmett built the case the way Colleen had built the evidence: patiently, precisely, in layers impossible to ignore.
He started with finances. Then forgery. Then the affair. Then the fertility records.
The courtroom remained silent as he introduced the donor consent form bearing only Colleen’s signature.
Grant’s attorney argued deception, betrayal, emotional damages.
Emmett stood again.
“The issue before this court is not whether my client’s deceased daughter owed her husband transparency in a marriage he had already hollowed out with sustained infidelity. The issue is whether these children are safest with the man who exploited, deceived, and financially preyed upon their mother—or with the grandmother she specifically designated as their protector.”
That landed.
Doctor Nina Prescott testified next.
She described the hemorrhage clinically. Then, quietly, she repeated Colleen’s request: “If something goes wrong, make sure my mother gets the babies. Not Grant. My mother.”