Chapter 5 - The Little Boy in My Son’s Bedroom
Maren did not confront Russell immediately.
Dana obtained an emergency custody order limiting Russell to supervised contact.
When Russell received it, he exploded.
“You poisoned Felix against me!”
Maren replied, “Felix is afraid of you without my help.”
“You don’t know what happened.”
“Then explain why another child lives in his bedroom.”
Russell went silent.
That Saturday, the supervised visit took place at a family center decorated with paper snowflakes.
Felix sat beside Maren.
Russell entered carrying an expensive remote-control truck.
Felix stiffened.
“Hey, buddy.”
Felix did not answer.
Russell set down the truck.
“I got this for you.”
Felix whispered, “Noah likes trucks.”
Russell’s face changed.
Maren noticed.
“Who is Noah?” the supervisor asked.
Felix looked at his father.
Russell said, “His little brother.”
“Half-brother,” Maren corrected.
Felix’s hands trembled.
“He took my room.”
Russell sighed.
“We needed the nursery.”
“So where did Felix sleep?”
“It was temporary.”
“In the laundry room?”
“There was a cot.”
The supervisor wrote something.
Russell became defensive.
“It was heated.”
Felix whispered, “Except when the dryer wasn’t on.”
Maren closed her eyes.
Russell leaned toward him.
“Buddy, remember how we talked about telling stories?”
Felix recoiled.
The supervisor immediately intervened.
“Mr. Dane, do not coach him.”
“I’m his father.”
“And this is supervised.”
Russell’s smile disappeared.
For the rest of the visit, he performed affection rather than feeling it. Maren recognized the technique now.
Afterward, Felix asked if he had done something wrong.
“No.”
“Dad looked mad.”
“That is Dad’s feeling to manage.”
Felix nodded slowly.
On the drive back, Christmas music played quietly.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“Celeste used to make me clean Noah’s bottles.”
Maren kept her voice steady.
“Okay.”
“And if I spilled water, she made me start the kitchen again.”
“How much cleaning?”
“Until it looked new.”
“Did Dad know?”
“He said helping builds character.”
Felix looked out the window.
“One time I fell asleep on the floor.”
Maren’s heart cracked.
“What happened?”
“Grandma Judith came the next day.”
That was when Russell began refusing Judith entry.
At the hotel, Maren and Felix made popcorn garlands.
She deliberately let kernels fall.
Felix immediately dropped to pick them up.
“You can leave them.”
“But the floor.”
“We’ll clean later.”
He looked frightened.
“Nobody gets mad?”
“Nobody gets mad.”
He left one kernel on the carpet.
It felt like a victory.
That night Dana called.
“We found something in Wintermere’s loan documents.”
“What?”
“Your signatures are excellent forgeries.”
“Excellent?”
“Because they may not be forgeries.”
Maren sat upright.
Dana explained that Russell had used pages Maren genuinely signed years earlier—blank authorization forms mixed into mortgage and insurance packets. Text had later been added.
“He tricked me.”
“Yes.”
“Can we prove it?”
“Maybe. But there’s more.”
Wintermere’s original operating agreement included a handwritten amendment.
If Maren died or was declared incompetent, control passed to Felix.
If Felix was unavailable, control passed to Russell as guardian.
Maren felt cold.
“Unavailable means what?”
“Dead, missing, removed from custody, several possibilities.”
She looked toward the adjoining room where Felix slept beside Judith.
“Russell needed me gone.”
“And Felix dependent on him.”
A knock sounded at the hotel door.
Maren froze.
She looked through the peephole.
Celeste stood outside holding a toddler.
Noah.
Maren opened the door with the chain secured.
“What do you want?”
Celeste was crying.
“Help.”
“Why?”
“Russell knows I talked to Dana.”
Maren’s eyes narrowed.
“You talked to my lawyer?”
Celeste looked behind her.
“He’s been lying to me too.”
She lifted Noah slightly.
“I thought you abandoned them.”
Maren said nothing.
Celeste whispered, “And Russell isn’t Noah’s father.”
Maren stared.
“Then who is?”
Celeste began sobbing.
“Raymond.”
Behind Maren, a glass hit the floor.
May you like
Her father stood in the hallway.
White as snow.
