My hands shook as my lawyer and I awaited the jury's ruling. Much of my family was in the audience, but I couldn't make myself turn to look at them. I heard someone whispering something about how I was in a bad situation. I've always been in a bad situation! Doesn't anyone get it? My life was destined to be a nightmare the moment Luca and I met. The moment Brad told him he could have money in exchange for making me happy.
My life was ruined when I said I do and pretended my relationship was perfect. I ignored the signs dancing in my face. Who mentions their exes too many times in a relationship? Who tells their spouse they'll never be loved? It was a battle lost everyday and now the war was being fought. If I didn't win, I was going to be the laughing stock of the century. My life won't be as perfect as I thought it was.
"We've got this," my lawyer assured me. "As long as you appear capable of handling yourself, you can keep your kids."
"I'm not worried about the kids."
"You aren't? Then why are we here? You told me you were more worried about getting your children back then your own health just last night."
"...I did?"
My lawyer sighed and shook his head. Of course I probably said that. Was my memory getting worse? I was doing the best I could. Maybe it wasn't hard enough. If Luca could prove I wasn't getting better, he would get to keep them. No telling how they'd grow up.
"As long as the judge doesn't allow his lawyer to cross-examine you, we'll be fine."
"Don't jinx it! What if I forget something important? I don't even remember the dinner I had with my dad when I got home. I do remember arguing with him."
"About what?"
"I don't know. Something about New York."
"That's not helping your case, Lexi. The judge is already weary of our case. You can't answer the simplest of questions and Luca's looking smug every time your accident comes up."
"We have evidence of his abuse if anything goes wrong. Stop talking like I've already lost."
"From the looks of it, Lexi, we already have."
We turned our attention to the jury who were glaring in my direction. When had they come back in? Luca had his arms crossed across his chest like he'd won the world. I wish to wipe that smug look off his ugly face. Just he wait. Something's wrong with the people judging us as a couple today and me as a mother.
"Order in the court!" The judge banged his gavel, ceasing all noise in the courtroom. "Order in the court! The jury has returned with a verdict of this case. Lexi Daniels, mother of two, has recently suffered from cardiac arrest and multiple head injuries. According to her husband, Luca Thompson, she refuses all options to strengthen her mental health--"
"You liar!" I knocked over my chair in anger. My lawyer grabbed me. "J'espère que tu pourris en enfer."
"Order in the court!"
I allowed myself to be shoved back in a chair. I'd hear them out, but if anything went wrong with the verdict, I'd go crazy. No one deserves a happy ending more than me.
"The jury has gone over all evidence given to them and their verdict is in favor of..."
"Luca Thompson."
NO! This can't be.
"Lexi Daniels, if you agree to weekly therapy and hospital treatment, you are allowed to see your children whenever you want. If you refuse the treatment to get better, Luca Thompson has the right of refusal. Any objections?"
I could feel everyone's eyes on me. I wasn't going to get treatment. I'm not going to therapy. I don't need it. I don't want it. There's a fine line between being able to do something and wanting to do something. I don't think I can force myself to let someone help me get my life straight.
"...None," I muttered.
"Are you okay, Lexi?"
"Am I okay? AM I OKAY? You don't know half of it! Imagine fighting for the one thing you've wanted most in your life and losing it to the one person you've wished was dead before his mother's body could support him as a fetus?"
"...That's kind of dark."
"Good. It's describing all the hate I have for him without wasting my breath. I hope something happens to him on the way to wherever he's going. I hope his car breaks down in the middle of traffic and a semi hits him going 100 MPH. I hope his parents are trapped in a burning building and when he goes in to rescue them he burns up with them."
"Lexi..."
"I hope his sister dies in the hospital right now. I hope when he decides he's going to marry whatever cunt he's been sleeping with she turns on him and gets him thrown in jail. I hope the government realizes he hasn't paid any of his taxes and takes all his money, declaring him bankrupt and blacklist him from making another bank account with his SSN."
"Lexi, that's quite unnecessary. You do know your father is going to murder me the moment he realizes we lost."
"We lost because Luca is a sore loser. He probably bribed the jury or something."
"How? There's no way he could have spoken to any of them before the case. No way. You didn't seem to know anyone on the jury."
"Just because I don't know doesn't mean he doesn't know them."
"...Are you suggesting the case was rigged?"
"I don't know, am I?"
I sat back in my seat and waited for the driver to leave. Luca always had something to say when he won an argument. This was more than an argument. It was my life and he took it from me. How am I supposed to live? It wasn't my lawyer's fault we lost. There's something more to this case and I'm going to find out. If I hurt myself in the process, then so be it. Being famous isn't the only thing the world has to offer.
"So...full custody under the pretense of joint custody?"
"Shut. Up."
⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕
"She's unstable, Mr. Roberts. She didn't act how a mother should act when her kids are being taken away. I thought maybe it was a delayed reaction, but the whole way here...she hasn't said a word about the kids. I don't think she cares."
"I believe it's a delayed reaction. Lord knows what's going to happen tomorrow. We might as well go along with everything she's been saying. What has she been saying?"
"How she hopes bad things happen to Luca and his family."
"Don't we all. We'll worry about it tomorrow. She should be in her right mind then. I'll get Asher to joggle her memory. See if she remembers a thing."
"I'll take my leave, sir. Maybe go by the hospital and see if there's anything we need to know about her condition. Do you want me to email you anything I find?"
"Mhm. Don't let Luca find out anything. Hopefully he's out celebrating instead of taking care of the kids."
"See you tomorrow, Mr. Roberts."
I leaned back in my chair and sighed. Everything was crap now. I have no kids. No husband. No one to help me out. Asher is a douche and a liar. I hope to never see him again as long as I live. All my friends have ditched me to live their own lives. I don't think I've seen them since the gala. Some people they are. I thought we were always supposed to stick with each other.
Brad walked into the living room and sat in his chair across from me. We were engaged in a silent staring contest until Teresa thought it would be great to pop in. Brad broke the gaze and smiled at her. Of course. She was the one deserving of his smiles and praises today. Chienne. I hope she rots in Hell alongside Luca. God has a special place for them. All of us.
"Dinner's almost ready," she said to us. "Are we eating in here?"
"No. I just want to talk to Lexi for a bit. See how she's doing?" Brad sent me a look. Teresa only smiled and went back to the kitchen. "...Have you gotten a call from Luca?"
"Why would I get a call from that douchebag?" I snapped.
"Don't raise your voice at me, young lady. I didn't mean to put you in this situation. It's bad enough you're my step-daughter. Your parents aren't any better. Ian wasn't down here to help you, so he couldn't have been a temporary guardian."
"No one cared about me in the beginning, why would they care about me now?"
"I've cared about you since the beginning--"
"If you cared about me, you wouldn't have made me marry Luca. I wouldn't have to fight for the right to keep the kids I gave birth to and looked after while Luca cheated on me every chance he got. Since I effed up in court, any evidence I had against him about abuse and negligence were thrown away. No one was there for me in the beginning."
"Lexi, I tried to do what--"
"Was best for me? I've heard that line many times and I still don't believe it. Luca made trouble for me the moment his parents took over your company. The cocky bastard thought he was the best thing on the planet. You forced me to marry him in your last attempt to get it back."
"That's not true. You know it's not."
"It's not?" I crossed my arms and scoffed. "Prove it."
"I took you in as my own daughter. What more--" Brad started.
"It wasn't for me. Nothing you've done that's helped you wasn't an attempt to help me live a better life." I shook my head. "I would have been better off with my father."
No one in this world could make me take that back.