“The father, Landon Bellamy, was forced to take a brief trip to secure business interests, leaving the child in what he believed was a stable environment.”

“He returned to find the mother had checked the child into the hospital under false pretenses of neglect.”

Clara stood up immediately, her voice calm and steady.

“Your Honor, if I may present the actual sequence of events from three days ago.”

She handed a tablet to the bailiff, who passed it up to the judge.

“This is the footage from the exterior security camera of the Bellamy residence,” Clara said.

The courtroom was quiet except for the tinny audio playing from the judge’s bench.

Landon’s recorded voice echoed in the room, telling me he was going to Florida and that I could handle the baby myself.

I watched Landon’s sunburned neck turn a deeper shade of red as his own words filled the room.

Judge Vance watched the screen, her brow furrowing deeper with every second.

“And here,” Clara continued, handing a set of printed documents to the bailiff, “are the pediatric admission records from Charlotte Memorial Hospital.”