Julianne sat alone in the house which she had hoped to grow old in with her loving husband and daughter. The distant memories of the laugh they shared,the love this house once brought looked like nothing but a dream that never happened. As she looked around the house all she felt was an empty void threatening to overcome her. Everything seemed so near but yet so far. The memories of her standing with her husband as they said their wedding vows, friends cheering them as they pledged their undying love to each other seemed to laugh at her.
As she thought of everything that had happened up to this moment,she couldn't stop the tears that welled up in her eyes. How they started having arguments over little things, the distance that made their way into their once loving relationship, how she tried hard to fix it. She had suggested they went to a marriage counselor but Damian was strictly against it. She watched as the small rift increased to something big that seemed to affect their daughter's mental health.
The day Damian had filled for their divorce, several emotions stirred in her – sadness,sad that the marriage she had poured her heart out for was going to end, angry at the fact that he didn't put an effort in trying to make it work out but also a strange sense of relief because she knew that it was for the best. She remembered how he had no second thought about the divorce, how he provided the divorce paper with so much relief written on his face. The more she thought about it,the angrier she became.
Damian was her first everything– first boyfriend,first kiss and the only person she ever slept with. The sound of his laughter rang in her ears. The thought of starting all over again drained her but she had to move on but she had to move on and stand strong so that she could be able to get custody over her daughter.
She wiped her tears as she got ready for bed. She had a big day ahead of her and she didn't want to deprive herself of sleep wallowing in despair. Tomorrow she had to fight over the custody of her daughter and she needed to gather courage to face her ex-husband. Their daughter was staying with her sister for now so that she won't have to see how terrible it got between her parents.
"Tomorrow, I'll have to fight for my daughter"
———
The next day,as Julianne stood in front of the courtroom, she could feel her heart pounding very hard in her chest. She could see her ex husband and his new girlfriend standing in the hallway. As she stared at him all she could feel was anger. She had the urge to walk up to him and land a punch on his annoying face. She stared at him for a few more minutes before walking into the courtroom with a heavy heart.
The courtroom was relatively quiet as people were just settling into their seats, having hushed conversation and the footsteps of others as they walked in. She took her seat in the front and looked out to see if she'll see her sister and her daughter.
She saw her ex husband, Damian and his girlfriend, Victoria walk in minutes later taking a few seats away from her. She didn't want to blame Victoria for everything that happened in her marriage but the sight of her made her skin crawl. She could feel Damian's gaze on her but she pretended like she didn't notice him staring at her.
The judge walked in making everyone become silent as the trial began. Damian's lawyer presented plenty of arguments on why She shouldn't get custody over the child which made her heart sink the more she listened.
The courtroom fell silent as they listened to Damian's lawyer.
"Your Honor,if I may" He began, "Julianne here doesn't have the financial ability to take care of her child and herself. She was only able to take care of herself because of her husband's help but without her husband I fear that taking care of a child will not only affect her mental health but also that of her daughter"
Julianne's lawyer tried to object but was silenced by the judge who signaled for Damian's lawyer to continue.
Julianne noticed the smirk that crept on Damian's face and she wanted to wipe it off. Damian's lawyer continued, "Julianne has had numerous emotional outburst due to her short temper and this might be harmful to the child"
The longer he spoke, Julianne could feel her heart sink deeper. It was true that she wasn't financially stable because she had to quit her job to look after their daughter. She hadn't thought that things would go this way.
"Objection your honor" Julianne's lawyer cut in. " Your Honor, I do accept that Julianne may be financially unstable but she would never do anything to harm her daughter. She have always made sure to put the interest of her daughter before anything so I suggest that she should at least get a chance at shared custody"
Julianne held her breath as she waited for the judge to speak. After what felt like eternity, the judge finally spoke. " After hearing from both sides, I have come to a decision, the custody of the child will go to the father Damian but Julianne can have the chance to see her daughter once in every two months"
———
Julianne stepped out of the courtroom,the judge's words still ringing in her head. Her lawyer had assured her that she'd make sure she won. Everything happened in a blur right before her eyes. She saw her daughter standing with Damian with confusion and unshed tears in her eyes. She ran over to Julianne.
"Mommy, Auntie said that you're leaving me, is that true?" her daughter asked, her voice trembling.
Julianne bent down to be on eye level with her daughter,as he held her face in her trembling hands. "Awwww baby, that's not true. You know that mummy can't leave you right because I love you"
She wanted to grab her daughter and run away, away from everyone. But she knew not to put more trouble over her head.
"I promise to visit you always okay" Julianne said, placing a soft kiss on her daughter's forehead.
"Please stay with me, momma" Mirabel, her daughter said as tears streamed down her little face. "Stay with Daddy and I"
"Mirabel, it's time to go" Damian called out.
"Bye baby, I promised to see you okay" Julianne said before she watched her daughter enter the sleek black car.