by Lexy Timms
Walking into the court house was the scariest thing she had ever done. She had been filled with anxiety at numerous times in her life. When she married Gary. When she gave birth to Finn. When she saw Simon again for the first time in years. But nothing made her heart pound the way it was now as she walked side by side with her lawyer Aaron.
Simon was right behind her, and as they walked through the doors of the courtroom his strong hand gently squeezed her shoulder. Having his support had kept her from completely falling apart. Especially in the week since Gary had crashed their family dinner and traumatized Finn.
She had made sure to tell her new lawyer about Gary’s drunken antics, and they had decided to include it as part of their strategy against him.
They settled in to their seats, with Simon taking his seat way in the back. They had managed to sneak in, so they would be shielded from media scrutiny, but Heather knew there was still a risk of a reporter seeing them here together.
Still, the courtroom was relatively empty; Gary was already seated with his lawyer. Most of the courtroom staff had already settled in. Now they were just waiting for the judge.
As she scanned the room Heather noticed Gary’s girlfriend, Tiffany, was sitting in the back as well.
The judge swept in and they all got to their feet as he was announced by the bailiff.
“First witness please,” the judge said.
That was her cue to sit on the witness stand. There wasn’t a jury or anything like that present to judge her, but that didn’t stop her heart from hammering. This was the moment where she knew she had to get everything right from now on. Her son was depending on her to protect him.
As she got to the witness stand to swear her oath, her thoughts drifted to Finn. Ever since Gary had made his drunken appearance at their family dinner, Finn had been more withdrawn. He seemed to think Gary’s unreasonable behavior was somehow his fault, and no matter how hard she and Simon had tried to reassure him that wasn’t the case he still seemed convinced he was to blame.
With the oath sworn she sat down, her body tensing as Gary’s lawyer approached.
“Good morning, Ms. Hall. I’m Charlene Howard,” Gary’s lawyer introduced herself with a smile, but Heather wasn’t fooled. She knew that his lawyer would be out for blood and she had prepared over the past two weeks for this.
“Good morning,” Heather murmured.
“Ms. Hall, how long were you married to your ex-husband?” Charlene asked.
“Almost ten years,” Heather replied.
“Why did you get married?” Charlene asked.
Heather frowned, recognizing the lawyer’s attempt to bait her immediately. “Could you elaborate on that question please?”
Charlene flashed her a cold smile. “Certainly. Did you marry my client for romantic reasons? Were you in love with him?”
“I...I did love Gary,” Heather replied truthfully. “Was it true love? Well, no, I don’t think you could call it that. But I respected him and was fond of him. When I got pregnant unexpectedly we both wanted to do right by our child.”
“So, Gary was ready to spend his life with you even though you were the one who had gotten pregnant?” Charlene asked, her voice cloyingly sweet.
“Gary and I were both pregnant,” Heather shot back. “I didn’t get pregnant on my own, and Gary was ready to step up and do the right thing.”
“So, you’re stating on the record that Gary Hall is a good father?” Charlene asked.
Heather squirmed. “Well... lately he hasn’t been as present as I would like—”
“But if he hasn’t been a good father, why are you pushing to share custody with him?” Charlene demanded. “After all, Gary wants full custody of his son, yet you want shared custody. Sounds like Gary might think you’re unfit, while you’re still willing to share custody with him. Pretty damning, don’t you think?”
“I believe my desire to share custody shows that, no matter what happens, I want Gary to be a part of Finn’s life,” Heather said carefully. “A child ought to have both his parents. That’s why Gary and I got married in the first place.”
“But, clearly, you don’t think very highly of him if you’re willing to say you think he hasn’t been present,” Charlene said.
“He hasn’t been very present,” Heather said. “Gary makes promises to see Finn, but often breaks his commitments. Sometimes he shows up unannounced. Just last week he crashed out family dinner party; he wasn’t clearly drunk.”
“Yes, but you weren’t sober either, were you,” Charlene said.
Heather blinked in surprise. “What?”
“Didn’t you consume alcohol at that party?” Charlene asked.
“Yes, but it was just a little Champagne—”
“Why would you throw a raucous party with alcohol while your six-year-old son was present, Ms. Hall?” Charlene narrowed her eyes. “And that’s just one instance in a long line of bad judgments, isn’t it? Weren’t you embroiled in a scandal that involved an affair you were having with your boss?”
“Your Honor, I object to that!” Aaron said loudly. “Charlene is obviously leading the witness down a twisted line of questioning—”
“I’ll allow it, Mr. Colbert,” the judge said. “But tread carefully, Ms. Howard. You’re getting close to badgering.”
Heather reached for the glass of water on the stand and took a sip. She hated to admit it, but she was rattled. She had never expected Gary’s lawyer to go easy on her, but the way she was twisting her words was already upsetting her.
“It was not a raucous party,” Heather said firmly. “It was a small family gathering, nothing more.”
“If you say so, Ms. Hall,” Charlene said, unable to hide the skepticism in her tone. “But that doesn’t answer the question about the scandal. Didn’t you have an affair with your boss? Your relatively new boss?”
Heather nodded. “Yes.”
“And you’re currently still seeing him, aren’t you?”
“I... we’re...” Heather sighed. She had expected this line of questioning and prepared for it. That didn’t stop her from clenching her hands in anxiety. There was only so much preparation she could do before the personal nature of the questions got to her. “We’re currently still seeing each other.”
“This is after you issued denials in the press.” Charlene tutted. “You told the media that the affair had ended.”
“It had,” Heather said. “But we decided to try again.”
“Try again? Even after you were accused of trying to sabotage the company you worked for? The company you swore you would be loyal to. If you can’t even be loyal to your company, how do you think that reflects on your fitness as a parent? That kind of scandal could upend a child’s life. Put a wrench in their development—”
“Objection!” Aaron said sharply. “Your Honor, this isn’t in good faith. Charlene is just tossing out conclusions, not facts.”
The judge held his gnarled hand up for silence. “As compelling as this is, Charlene, you need to rein it in.”
Charlene nodded. “No further questions at this time, Your Honor.”
“Mr. Colbert, you may question the witness now,” the judge said to Aaron.
As her lawyer approached, she looked down at her hands. They were no longer clenched. Instead, they were now shaking. With tears welling in her eyes she looked back up, searching for Simon. Searching for the face that would soothe the pain that threatened to well up and consume her. How could Gary do this? After their years of marriage, how could he rake her over the coals so publicly like this?
When her eyes landed on Simon, she almost started crying. Sympathy flashed in his blue eyes and he gave her a small, encouraging smile.
Gathering her courage, she clenched her hands again to stop them from shaking and blinked her tears away. Now was not the time to lose it. Finn needed her.
After Aaron lobbed softball questions at her, they broke for a quick lunch and then returned to the courtroom.
She settled in
her seat beside her lawyer while Gary went to the witness stand, ready to be questioned by his own lawyer.
“Mr. Hall, why are you trying to get full custody of your son, Finnley?” Charlene asked gently.
“I hate to speak ill of his mother, but it’s because she’s unfit,” Gary said. “She’s...she’s too selfish to have a real motherly instinct, you know? I had my doubts that she’d be a good mom at the beginning of the marriage, but I wanted to do the right thing. I had to convince her to go through with the wedding.”
Anger flared in her. The way he was twisting everything was appalling. He wasn’t lying enough to get into trouble, but there was no way she would characterize getting the jitters on their wedding day as some kind of failure in parenting.
“Do you approve of how she parents Finn?” Charlene asked Gary.
He shook his head in response. “No, I don’t. I’ve personally witnessed her bringing men into her house at all hours of the night. I know her office affair affected our son. And the way she parades her boss around, it’s like she’s trying to replace me. She says she wants to share custody, but all she’s done is cut me out of my son’s life.”
“So, when your ex-wife says you’re not present, that isn’t an accurate statement?” Charlene asked.
Gary shook his head sadly. “How can I be present when Heather keeps my son away from me? She’s the one who took Finn on a vacation across the country with her new boyfriend, when all I wanted to do was see my son. That’s what she does. She’s been trying to punish me for wanting to see my own son, so she keeps him away from me.”
Charlene frowned. “What happens when you do find a way to see Finnley?”
Gary let out a dramatic sigh. “She gets her parents to gang up on me. Gets her boyfriend to do it, too. When I showed up to that party to get Finn out of there, her boyfriend got in my face. Had a knife in his hand and everything.”
Heather’s heart sank. Shit, he was spinning this so well. He was a master at manipulation.
“Why don’t you think this can be worked out?” Charlene asked. “Why go for full custody rather than shared, since you were originally so committed to Finnley having both parents in his life?”
“Because the lengths she goes to are damaging to my son,” Gary said. “She resents the fact that Finn loves me so much. It hurts her to see how much our son adores me, so she’s been trying to punish me for it. Several weeks ago, she convinced her rich boyfriend to try to pay me off.”
“Pay you off?”
“Yup.” Gary nodded. “She wanted him to pay me two million dollars to stay out of Finn’s life. I was stunned. I turned the offer down, of course. Nothing could keep me from my son. Nothing.”
“He’s lying,” Heather hissed at lawyer.
“Lower your voice,” Aaron said softly. “You can’t say anything while he’s on the stand. Try to get a hold of yourself, Heather.”
Her anger was flaring into full-blown rage. Rage was an emotion she had almost never felt. But right now, Gary’s lies were pushing her over the edge. Hearing how easily the lies rolled off his tongue disturbed her. She had always known he had his flaws, but this was beyond anything she could have ever imagined. Somehow his lies were worse than when he had demanded money. He really would do anything to hurt her. To punish her for his belief that she had wasted years of his life.
Soon, Charlene finished her line of questioning and the judge began his remarks.
“I won’t be making my final decision about custody today,” the judge said. “Today was just a preliminary hearing, so nothing is final yet. However, some of the things I heard today disturbed me greatly. Ms. Hall, going to such lengths to keep a father from his own son has profound negative effects on a child. I’m not one to believe salacious gossip in the press, but your ex-husband’s testimony has raised some very grave issues that need to be addressed. With that, I’d like to adjourn for today.” The judge banged his gavel, rose, and swept out of the room.
She didn’t know how she found the strength to make her way out of the courtroom, but when she did she threw her arms around Simon to keep from crying. Gary was already scurrying away with his horrible lawyer, so at least she didn’t have to contend with him now.
“Did you hear what he said?” She bit her lip, needing the pain to distract her from the tears pricking the back of her eyes. “He lied, Simon. How could he lie like that?”
Simon pulled back to gently stroke her cheek. “Gary is a real piece of work.”
“Now we know he’ll stop at nothing,” Aaron said grimly.
“How bad is it?” Heather asked.
“The judge seems to be leaning towards Gary,” Aaron said. “It...it doesn’t look good, Heather.”
“Is there anything I can do?” she asked.
“We can try to go after Gary, but he’s got an advantage. I know the judge says he isn’t swayed by the media, but all those scandals in the press have given him a bad impression of you,” Aaron said. “The only way to salvage this is to hit Gary hard.”
“We need to get dirt on him,” Simon said firmly. “I know you don’t like the idea of digging through his life, Heather, but we need to get every bit of dirt we can on him. A man like that has to have skeletons. The only way to save Finn is to destroy his father.”
Chapter 13
“Do you still need to be convinced?” Simon looked across the table at her, worried she would push back against him at any moment.
Heather was sitting beside Aaron in one of the conference rooms of Jones, Chang, & Associates, both of them poring over legal documents.
She paused to look up. Heather had washed her face before they had left the courthouse, but her eyes were still red and puffy from crying. She still held herself in check. It was impressive.
He clenched his jaw, hating every minute that she suffered because of her ex-husband. After Simon had suggested they go after Gary, she had fled to a bathroom without saying a word in response. During the drive to Aaron’s law firm she had sat in complete silence, too shaken from her first day in court to say much of anything.
Simon had come along for moral support, but from the forlorn look in her eyes he was starting to wonder how much good his presence was actually doing.
“No, I don’t,” she said finally. “I don’t need to be convinced to go after Gary, because I’ve made up my mind.”
“What have you decided?” her lawyer asked gently.
“I hate that we have to do this.” She let out a pained sigh. “But Gary hasn’t really given me a choice. We have to go after him. You were right, Simon, so you can go ahead and say you told you so.”
“I don’t want to gloat,” Simon said, shocked that she could think so badly of him. “Heather, being right is the last thing I wanted.”
“I’m sorry. That came out wrong.” She lowered her eyes, crossing her arms on the desk as if she was fighting to get back some semblance of control. “You both told me to go after Gary but I didn’t listen.”
“You were simply trying to do right by your son’s father,” Aaron said. “That’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“I don’t even know what right and wrong is any more,” she said. “If we hold back and let Gary win, then Finn will end up with a selfish father. If we go after Gary, I’ll basically be ruining him.”
“But Heather, if you’re so sure you’re going to be ruining him, don’t you think that means he’s up to something?” Simon asked. “I mean, if even you think he’s got skeletons in his closet, it doesn’t exactly speak well of his character.”
“It doesn’t.” Her gaze drifted upwards and her eyes landed on him. “He was so cruel. Simon; you’re the only reason I didn’t completely fall apart up there. His lawyer was just relentless.”
“That’s how Charlene is,” Aaron said.
Simon nodded. “Heather, I know you credit me for helping you keep it together, but I honestly think the preparation you did with your lawyer was most important.”
She didn’t r
espond, merely averted her gaze and turned her attention back to her lawyer. “It’s settled. I’m giving you the okay to go after Gary. Get every piece of dirt you can on him. If he’s going to come after me the way he did today, then I’m going after him.”
Aaron reached for a folder in the stack in front of him and handed it to Heather. “I think switching to more aggressive tactics is the right idea. For now, I’m going to have a talk with the firm’s investigator to get the ball rolling on investigating Gary. Why don’t you look over this list of your court dates in the meantime?”
“Okay,” she said softly as Aaron exited the conference room, leaving them alone together.
Needing to stretch his legs, Simon eased out of the leather swivel chair and walked over to a side table to refill his cup of coffee. He took a sip and turned his attention to Heather.
“I know it’s a stupid question to ask, but how are you feeling?” he asked.
“Honestly, I’m exhausted,” she confessed, her shoulders sagging. “I’m trying so hard to keep it together, but I feel like I’m failing.”
“You’re not failing.”
“You heard what Aaron said back at the courthouse,” she said. “Things don’t look good. The judge is already being swayed to Gary’s side.”
He nodded, trying to show her that he was acknowledging her fears. It wasn’t going to do any good to give her platitudes right now in her agitated state, but he also didn’t want her to sink into despair. “Today was tough,” he said honestly. “But Gary’s lawyer tried to break you. She failed. That’s an accomplishment. I know it might not feel like that now, but it’s important that you’re fighting for Finn. He would be proud of you. Plus, I’m proud of you because I know that, whatever happens, you’re never going to give up, Heather.”
She lifted her chin, the defeat starting to fade from her eyes. “Giving up isn’t an option. I’ll never let them take Finn from me. Not ever.”
“That’s why Gary isn’t going to know what hit him,” Simon said. “All he sees is the nice side of you that put up with all his crap. But now, you seem...”