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“Because you don’t deserve to be in Violet’s life after what you did. You lied about us. You tried to fuck up my relationship. And you know what? All those things, I could forgive—but I can’t forgive that you had her and you abandoned her. Like trash. What kind of mother are you?”
Holly’s expression turns wicked. She walks over to me, her heels clicking on the floor. She puts herself into my space, looking me directly in the eyes. “The kind that will do anything to get what she wants. You understand?” She smiles prettily, a thin veneer of surface-level beauty over a soul that makes me sick to my fucking stomach. “I already have a lawyer on my side. All I need to get is the bare minimum rights to visitation… and when that happens, everything after just falls into place. Custody. Child support. A straight shot into everything I’ve ever wanted.”
My eyes narrow. “You’re using Violet to get my money?”
“I wouldn’t if you’d just accepted our marriage, but here we are… You were able to deny documents, but you can’t deny DNA.”
“No court would ever give you custody after all this shit comes out,” I spit. “No sane judge?—”
“Do you really think this is the worst thing a mother has done? It’s a man’s world, Reese, but children are a woman’s domain. With your history and my squeaky clean record—ha!” She snaps her fingers to illustrate her point. “It’ll be the easiest case in history.”
I refuse to believe that. With everything Elliot’s already learned, there’s no way she’s as squeaky clean as she’s claiming she is. “My lawyer is digging up every piece of dirt on your sorry ass as we speak,” I inform her icily. “Like the fact you have a kid already living with you. You really think the court is gonna give you custody when you already have an obligation?”
A dangerous, venomous look crosses Holly’s eyes. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t I?” I fold my arms. “My lawyer is going to destroy you, you understand? There is no skeleton in your closet that won’t be pulled out. You’ll get dragged through the mud and back and I won’t be sticking around to clean you up. So stop while you’re ahead. You’re never getting me, you’re never getting my money, and you’re sure as shit never getting my daughter.”
Holly takes a deep breath in through her nose. Then that vicious smile of hers comes back. She presses herself to me. Chest to chest, her tits pushing up in her dress so that the only damn thing I see when I look down is cleavage.
“Maybe we can make some kind of other arrangement…”
“Are you fucking kidding me?—”
“Hey, man, Coach says?—”
Marcus’ voice interrupts at the same time the office door opens. I step back from Holly, but it’s too late. I know what it looks like. Confusion and then disappointment floods Marcus’ face.
“My, my. I guess this is my cue to go,” Holly says, her voice in that breathy and seductive tone I despise. Before I can stop her, she leans up and presses a kiss to my cheek. “We’ll continue this later, sweetheart.”
Anger flares up in me, but she’s gone and I’m left alone with Marcus. He watches her on her way out and then turns to me.
“What the fuck, man?”
23
OLIVIA
“Alright, Miss Carter, that’ll be an appointment on Friday at 11:30 in the morning. Is that correct?”
My heart thumps in my chest. You got this, Olivia. Just say yes.
“Y-Yeah. That’s what I want. Mhm.”
The woman on the other end chuckles a little. “It’s alright. Don’t worry too much about it, okay, hon?” she reassures me. “Whatever the results, I’m sure that you’ll have support and love every step of the way. Now, do you have any questions?”
“No, I don’t think so. I just want to, you know… have some certainty.”
“Of course. Well, you’ll get that on Friday. We’ll see you then.”
The line disconnects and I lean back against the wall. The high from last night wore off quickly this morning when reality hit me in the face. Reese isn’t married. Reese wants me. That’s all good news.
But there are still some annoyingly persistent facts in the mix. There is still a woman here who is claiming to be Violet’s mother, and I am—inconclusively—pregnant.
It’s all too much to deal with at once. Anxiety grips me again. I don’t want to have to deal with another wave of nausea. It’s been ebbing and flowing all through the morning. But if I stay here, I’m going to keep running through the same mental loops and that can only end with me on all fours hugging a toilet.
Ergo, I need to get out of the house.
I get Violet ready, putting her in a cute springtime dress. She giggles and bounces, excited for a field trip. She’s learned the going out routine and she loves getting out of the house.
