forcefully and cause bruises on my thighs,” I snap.
He blinks, then clears his throat. I answer the rest of his asinine questions, then thankfully it’s Aaron’s turn to talk. Unfortunately, this isn’t a criminal trial, so no matter how much I say, he won’t be going to jail.
When Aaron takes the stand, I finally look at him. I lay eyes on him for the first time in three years. He’s just as handsome as he was three years ago. He’s blond-haired, blue-eyed, and his shoulders are wide.
He looks older, time has not been good to his face in that way, but it doesn’t make him less attractive. No, when he opens his mouth, that’s when he loses every bit of handsome he has. He, of course, spins the entire narrative that it was a one-night stand and that he has missed the past two years with his child.
Thankfully, Bash, Hansen, and Landry told me that they had all of this under control, so I don’t panic—yet. When it’s Bash’s turn, he asks him about having a child again, if he’s ready for the responsibility and Aaron gushes, heavily, about the opportunity.
Then it happens.
I try not to smile.
I try really, really, hard not to smile, but I fail.
“Isn’t it true, Mr. Anderson, that you have two other children by two other different women? Both of which have filed domestic abuse charges against you. Neither child you have seen since the mothers have left, nor have you paid a dime of child support to?” Bash asks.
It goes downhill from there for Aaron, and I breathe a tad easier, though not completely easy, not yet. The judge could still award some kind of visitation, even monitored. I want none. I want him to crawl back into his hole and never be seen again. I don’t want a dime from him, nothing at all.
Bash isn’t finished though, he continues to go over Aaron’s past, even bringing into evidence signed affidavits by women he’s been with in the past that have no issue telling their stories of abuse by him. By the time Bash is finished, Aaron’s face is bright red.
I watch as he stands, lifting his finger, he points to the back of the courthouse. We all turn and there, in a black dress with an oversize black hat, attempting to be incognito, but standing out just the same, is Susan Astor.
I hear Aaron’s attorney moan right before Aaron opens his mouth. “You know what? Fuck this. It’s not worth it,” he barks.
“Sit down,” the judge orders. “What isn’t worth it?” he demands.
Aaron’s gaze flicks to the back of the room and he jerks his chin toward Susan. “That bitch wanted to get back at her husband. She had me tracked down and promised to pay me a fuckload of money to make Tennessee’s life miserable. I don’t want a kid, I don’t want all this bullshit that goes along with one. Fuck this, man.”
The judge practically roars as he attempts to regain order, because everyone in the room starts to whisper, even the staff. I don’t hear anything, the roaring in my ears from my blood pumping is too loud, that is until the judge declares that I am awarded complete and full custody of my child, Holden Bradley.
Landry wraps his arms around me, pulling me in for a hug, but I wrap my hand around his biceps and bury my face in his throat right before I burst into tears. My entire body shakes with sobs.
Susan didn’t win.
That monster won’t have access to my Holden.
However, I am under no illusion that Susan is finished with her attempts to torture us and make us pay for whatever she feels we’ve done wrong to her. Landry says it’s because she has lost standing and status, plus access to his seemingly endless funds.
I suppose that could be it and maybe because I’ve never had those things. I don’t understand why she would try to ruin people’s lives, a child’s life. Maybe it’s worth tarnishing your soul. I don’t think that it ever could be for me, but then again, I’ve never had any of that, maybe I would think it was worth it… though I highly doubt it.
Chapter Thirty-Five
LANDRY
This dinner was meant to be celebratory. It doesn’t feel that way at all. Tennessee is sitting across from me, Holden at her side. She looks anything but happy though and as I lift my water to my lips, I think of how to make this situation