The London Paradigm (book 4 of Adopted by the Josephs)

39. Tyler

Poor Little Rich Girl

COLUMBUS - Tyler Joseph's adopted daughter, over who he and his wife are currently embroiled in a custody battle with the teen's biological uncle, it turns out is not such a 'poor orphan' after all.

In news that made headlines almost two years ago, Samantha Joseph, now 15, was kidnapped by her biological father, the disgraced lawyer Stanley Deitz, after he had his parental rights stripped away upon the discovery that his intention the night his late wife, Janet Deitz (neé Solman, sister to the uncle now trying to claim custody of the Joseph's daughter) died, was actually to shoot the then eight-year-old.

Deitz orchestrated an escape during a prison transport that injured two guards, two inmates and caused a nationwide manhunt for the escaped convicts of that transport.

After escaping with his accomplice, Nigel Gillingham, 47, Deitz had Gillingham kidnap the teen from her school under the guise of an accident at her home and Gillingham portraying a social worker.

Deitz was killed in the process of Gillingham attempting to rescue the teen after seeing that Deitz intended to kill the girl.

She was returned to the Josephs care where, since then, she has thrived.

However, it turns out this 'poor orphan' is well set for life.

We have come to find out that the teen inherited an estate worth 1.5 million dollars, held in trust. The estate included the former home of the Deitz family, which was reportedly sold almost immediately.

The question now is, is her uncle fighting for custody for her inheritance?  We know the Josephs certainly don't need their daughter's money.

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I threw the paper across my office. Those vultures!  Samantha's inheritance should never have been at issue.

I worried that the kids at school would find out and make her life more difficult. She was already dealing with press following her everywhere, to the point that she didn't want to go anywhere. Her friends came to the house because she didn't want to burden their families with press camping out in front of their houses.  She hadn't signed up for any clubs or teams because she didn't want the school to have to deal with increased security needs. I was trying to convince her to at least try out for basketball. She loved it and was good at it. I should know. I play with her in the back yard almost every day. It's how she de-stresses now.

Rosie, on the other hand was growing and walking and talking more. She was so active now that she'd figured out how to walk. And then run. Sam would chase her around the back yard and listening to Sam playing with her sister and Rosie's infectious laugh, my heart would swell. But at the back of my mind, I couldn't help but wonder, 'what if we lose?'.

Frustrated by the news article, I went upstairs to see what my family was up to. Samantha had just come home from school and was talking with Jenna while she had a snack. Rosie was in her high chair beside Sam, mashing an avocado slice and basically getting it all over herself. But not so much in her mouth. She was a mess. But a very cute mess.

"Hi Dad!" Sam said as I came into the kitchen.

"Dada!" Rosie cried out cheerfully.

"Hello my beautiful family. What are we all up to? Sam, what's the homework situation? Do you have time for a little ball?"

"I don't know," she grimaced. "I have some reading to do, and an essay in English, some math homework and social studies and science."

"Okay," I said, pretending to be sad.

Samantha laughed.

"Okay, Dad. Let me get math and social studies out of the way and then we can play a little. I can do my reading after dinner."

I smiled a bright smile. Samantha rolled her eyes and laughed.

"Baba!" Rosie said, smashing avocado into her tray. Jenna looked over at her and rolled her eyes.

"Someone is going to need a bath after their snack."

"Oh no. I'm fine," Sam said. "I'll just shower after I play ball with Dad."

Jenna looked up confused, and then laughed.

"I didn't mean you, you Big Peanut," Jenna said.

"Awww," Sam laughed, pulling out her math book.

It was nice to see Sam being carefree. At least at home. Getting ready for school she was always nervous in the morning. I worried all day while she was at school because she was so tense. I kept an eye on our glucose monitoring app because I needed to know if she was staying in range. She's usually pretty good, but stress can mess with her numbers. And she'd been a little all over the place, even though she'd been mostly in range.

I was dreading what would happen if any of the kids at the school read the story in the paper. Sam already didn't like being the centre of attention and now she was a bit of a celebrity herself. And for all the wrong reasons. Kids at school knew who she was. For the most part they seemed supportive. Sam had said she hadn't heard anything negative or cruel, but it's a big school.

I watched as she worked her way through the math problems, rolling her eyes.

"I thought ninth grade math was supposed to be challenging," she mumbled as she wrote out the answers and her calculations. Showing her work was a bit of a struggle since she did her math in her head. It was rare for her to get many wrong.

I smiled. I loved that math came so easily for her. She'd had so many ups and downs in her young life. So many things go wrong and so much pain and struggle. To watch her whip through math as easily as writing her name on a piece of paper.

Once done with her Math. She pulled out her social studies book, read the portion she was assigned and start on the questions.

"Okay, Dad," she said. "Just let me get out of my jeans and into a pair of shorts and let's hit the court."

"I'm ready when you are," I smiled, watching as she bounded up the stairs to her room.