"I didn't do any of the things he is talking about. He is just jealous," Karen tried defending herself.
But she had, and she thought that Carey had no way of confirming those allegations because Angie, Arnold, and Val, whom she had occasionally left Frank with, would all defend her if things got to the very worst.
"You have a right to remain silent, or anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law," Clinton said, and Karen looked on in silence as the police escorted her out of the house.
Before they got into the police car, Frank started crying. He wouldn't stop however much Nelly tried to appease him and tell him to be quiet.
"Are you going to make me leave him like that? Crying? So that you have fake proof that I neglect him?" Karen asked.
Carey moved back to hold Frank, but he didn't stop crying. He was looking at Karen, and Diadry got emotional from the scene.
"I think this man is lying," she said.
"Lying, I'm not. Why would I?" Carey answered back
"You said you're the father, right?"
"Yes. He is my son."
"Why won't he be quiet when you're carrying him?"
"I have been away from them for a while. He has gotten used to being with the mother," Carey answered.
"How can he get used to the mother if she neglects him?" Diadry asked.
"I don't know. I was told she had been neglecting the child. I had to act," Carey defended himself. That wasn't how things were supposed to happen.
Karen was the one to be questioned, not him. Had Angie set him up by cheating him? What had he gotten himself into?
"Wow. You go and carry him," Clinton asked Karen, and she rushed as fast as lightning and took the child from Carey's hands. Frank went quiet immediately.
"We're sorry, miss," Diadry said. "You can go on with whatever you were doing. We will take this man with us. He has to answer some questions."
Karen looked at Carey and didn't see the man she had loved and lived with all those years.
Had she been blind, or was Carey finally revealing his true colors?
She stood rooted and watched him being led into the police car.
He looked at her with hatred and spite, and Karen knew that her life was still far from being perfect like she hoped.
She got back into the house and didn't even feel like going to work, but she had to because she couldn't afford to be at home sleeping, and yet she had bills to pay.
"You really have to be careful. Lock up and don't get Frank out of your sight," Karen warned Nelly before she left for work.
"I will be," Nelly assured her.
~
Val woke up earlier than she usually did.
"You're up so early," Arnold said.
"Yes. I want to make breakfast for us. It's been a while," Val said.
"Can I come and watch you cook?" Arnold asked, stretching on the bed.
"Finish your sleep. You'll prepare breakfast tomorrow and watch me next time. I got this," Val answered, leaving the bedroom.
She suddenly felt like vomiting, and she bent on the nearest sink and threw up. Her face looked drained of color, and she knew she had to act on the baby issue.
Arnold couldn't afford to even remotely suspect that she might be expecting.
She hurriedly did her chores and left a note on the dining table for Arnold, who had once again fallen asleep.
Instead of heading to work, she drove to City Hospital, where she had an appointment.
Dr. Isa Holman, the gynecologist she was to see, had a patient, and Val had to wait for a while before she got into the doctor's office.
"How can I help you miss?"
"I made an appointment with you. I would like to terminate my pregnancy," Val said after thinking it through for a while.
"Why do you want to do that?" Isa asked.
"I don't feel ready to be a mother yet."
"Where is your partner?" Isa asked, and Val's mind went blank.
She hadn't thought that she would be asked about Arnold. She thought she had the whole say in regards to keeping or terminating the pregnancy.
How would she respond?
She knew where Arnold was, but she knew he wouldn't be involved in such an act, yet she had made up her mind that she had to terminate the pregnancy.
"He disappeared into thin air after I told him that I was expecting," Val lied.
She hated doing so, but it's one thing she had perfected over the years during her practice as a lawyer.
At times, she had been approached by clients who were definitely wrong, yet she had to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the opposite was true.
"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Isa asked, and for a moment, Val's mind was clouded with uncertainty.
Instead of Isa, she saw Arnold before her, and she felt guilty that she was going to get rid of their symbol of love.
He would never forgive her for that if he found out, but Val was never going to tell him about that.
"I am sure," she answered with difficulty.