While I was in the middle of active labor and struggling through severe contractions, my husband of six years placed a cashier check for two hundred fifty thousand dollars on my
hospital tray alongside
legal documents. Garrett Hale expected me to sign away my rights to
child support and take our daughter away so he could focus on his new life. He callously informed me that Kendra Mercer, a marketing director at his company, had recently given birth to his son and he intended to give that child his name and his financial support. Garrett had spent my entire pregnancy complaining about the cost of raising a girl and showing absolutely no interest in my medical appointments. Because he had refused to attend my ultrasound appointments, he remained completely unaware that my doctor had discovered I was actually carrying twins. He was trying to buy my silence and force me out of his life without realizing that our second child was the exact son he had always wanted. I refused to sign his paperwork and insisted that he leave my hospital room immediately so I could give birth in peace and consult with an attorney.
After Garrett left the hospital room without even asking about my health, I instructed the hospital staff to restrict his visitation privileges and took photographs of all the documents he left behind. Hidden among his custody papers was a payment authorization for one hundred fifty five thousand dollars to a marketing agency called Beacon Communications, bearing signatures from both Garrett and Kendra. My daughter Harper was born late that evening with a fierce and determined cry, followed shortly by her twin brother Owen, who required a brief moment of medical assistance before his heart rate stabilized. Knowing I needed support but refusing to be controlled, I contacted my estranged father, Walter Prescott, who owned Pacific Harbor Freight where Garrett and Kendra were both employed. My father traveled overnight from Savannah to be with me, arriving completely shocked to find two bassinets instead of one. Rather than demanding to take charge of the situation, he simply asked how he could help me separate from Garrett and protect my newborn children from their father and his manipulative financial schemes.
