I looked at Ryan.

His head was bowed, his shoulders tense.

“This was not an absence due to ‘urgent business,’ Your Honor,” Victoria said, her voice ringing clearly through the room. “This was intentional, willful neglect of a dying wife and a newborn child.”

Judge Vance looked up from the documents, her eyes fixing directly on Ryan.

“Mr. Parker,” the judge said, her voice dangerously quiet. “Is this you in the video?”

Ryan swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Yes, Your Honor. But it was—”

“Silence,” Judge Vance snapped.

She looked back at the documents in front of her.

“The court finds the evidence of neglect to be deeply disturbing,” Judge Vance said. “The petition for emergency temporary custody by the father is denied.”

A wave of relief washed over me, so intense I felt dizzy.

“Temporary custody will remain solely with the mother, Emma Parker,” the judge continued. “Mr. Parker will have no visitation rights pending a full evidentiary hearing in thirty days.”

Margaret stood up, her face pale with rage. “Your Honor, this is an outrage. My son is a Parker. We have resources—”