"Evangeline Roth, you are under arrest for assaulting a six year old." Holla said to Eva who was still held down by the police officers. She responded by glaring at her in anger, "I didn't assault no six year old stupid, she's my daughter..."
"And she's six." Holla pointed out with a smirk.
"I trusted you, Alexander." Eva spat at him and while he kept his face expressionless, deep down he felt slightly guilty.
"Take her to the car." Holla ordered and they watched as the other two police officers took Eva out of the room. He sighed and approached the detective.
"I need to talk to you privately." He told her and then, whispered briefly to Nicole to wait for him.
Holla nodded and followed him outside. He began by running his hands through his hair.
"Eva is sick." He stated slowly as though needing her to understand without him trying to explain further.
"Sick as in mentally ill?" She inquired and he nodded.
"Well, I am not surprised...I mean she hired gangsters to assault her kid, so..." She shrugged dismissively.
He sighed, "That's not just it. She said she had left so she could take care of this same mental illness and I was too busy to even know she was going through such."
She tilted her head curiously, "What were you doing?"
"I was trying to save my company from going under the ground." He said.
She nodded, "So what are you going to do now?"
He didn't know what to do. Eva telling him she was mentally ill was an unexpected twist and now he felt guilty; maybe if he had paid more attention to her, they would still be together and Violet wouldn't have had to grow up through her toddler years without a mother. Should he just abandon Eva? He thought but his conscience wouldn't let him and while he was inclined to blame her, everything was not entirely her fault. That aside, she was still Violet's birth mother.
"What do you suggest?" He asked desperately so as to let her know he how much he really needed her input right then.
She sighed, "I usually don't suggest anything to people so they don't blame me at the end of the day, but you and I have known each other over the years so yeah...I think having a mentally unstable woman around your daughter is foolish or don't you think so?"
Alexander nodded in agreement.
"So you should still go ahead with the divorce...but since you feel guilty that you are partially responsible for what's happening, you can help Eva go back to rehab."
That was a good suggestion, he would do just that. He showed his appreciation by giving her a small smile, "Thank you, Holla."
She smiled back, "You're welcome."
***
While Alexander was out talking with Holla, Nicole sat demurely and cuddled Violet on her lap. It had been a very chaotic day and the little girl had been quiet all through. Nicole really hoped she would ask a question, anything at all would do but when she didn't, she raised her fingers to ask her a question.
"Are you scared?" She signed.
Violet shook her head in response.
That wasn't enough. "What are you thinking about?" She signed again.
"The bad woman who took me...is she gone forever?" Violet signed, her eyes widening with hope.
Finally, a question. Nicole wanted to tell her that her mother wasn't a bad woman but then, that might lead to more questions that would be better directed at her father.
"Yes, sugar." She signed back just as Alexander and Holla came back into the room. While he went to stand beside Nicole, Holla stood in front of them with a smile.
"I will be going now..." She told them, then fixed her eyes on Alexander, "You should start getting those divorce papers ready and tomorrow, I will need you to come to the station for quick questioning too."
Alexander nodded as Holla gave a short bow and left.
He sat beside her and chuckled tiredly, "Today was hectic." He said morosely.
"You are going to divorce her?" Nicole asked with her eyes gazing into his deep brown ones.
"Yes." He answered without hesitation.
Nicole didn't know how to feel about that. She knew Eva had done something terribly wrong but still, she felt really sorry for her. She felt like there was more to the story than she knew.
"What did you and Holla discuss?" She asked softly.
"Let's get out of here. I will tell you every other thing at home." Alexander added.
She nodded and Alexander reached for Violet who quickly crawled into his arms. He lifted her so she could rest on his shoulders, then walked ahead while Nicole followed.
***
Author's Note:
Hi, first of all, I want to thank my top fan
@DaoistGwwriY for their support towards my book. They've been amazing.
I wish to appeal to my amazing readers to review this book and comment to encourage me more. I would really love to know all your constructive and amazing thoughts on my book, it would be a nice motivation to keep writing.
I really hope you comment, thank you lovelies ❤️