Chapter 6
The preliminary hearing was two weeks later.
Victoria was out on bail.
Her lawyer had filed a motion to dismiss all the charges.
Said we were lying.
Said Lena was a scorned ex-lover.
Said Ethan was a disturbed child.
I sat in the courtroom, holding Ethan’s hand.
He was nervous, picking at his shirt.
Lena sat on his other side, squeezing his other hand, whispering encouraging things in his ear.
Victoria sat across the room.
She stared at us the whole time.
Cold.
Hateful.
Her lawyer stood up, pacing in front of the judge.
“Your Honor, this is a sham. My client is a respected member of this community. These allegations are nothing more than a smear campaign by a man who regretted his wedding vows and a disgruntled employee looking for a payout. There is no credible evidence—”
My lawyer stood up.
“Your Honor, if I may?”
He walked over to the judge’s bench.
Handed over the file.
The police reports from the other men.
The hospital records of the little girl.
The hundreds of threatening texts Victoria had sent me.
The security camera footage from our wedding night of her screaming threats at the top of the stairs.
The recording of her banging on my door at 11:30 at night.
The judge read through it all.
His face got darker and darker.
He looked up at Victoria.
“Ms. Hale. Is this you in these recordings? These texts?”
Victoria’s lawyer tried to object.
The judge shut him down.
“Quiet. I want her to answer.”
Victoria stood up, her voice shaking.
“Your Honor, I was upset. I’d just been left at the altar. Any woman would be emotional. Those things were taken out of context—”
“Out of context?”
The judge’s voice boomed through the courtroom.
“You told a seven-year-old boy his dead mother didn’t matter. You threatened to have his father taken away from him. You have a history of this exact same behavior spanning ten years and three different states. This isn’t emotion. This is a pattern of abuse. And it ends today.”
He banged his gavel.
“Motion to dismiss denied. Bail is revoked. Ms. Hale, you will be taken into custody immediately. You will stand trial on all charges. And I am issuing a permanent restraining order on behalf of Ethan and his family. You are to have no contact, direct or indirect, with any of them for the rest of your natural life. If you so much as drive past their house, you will spend the next twenty years in prison. Do I make myself clear?”
Victoria screamed.
She lunged across the room at us.
“You’ll pay for this! All of you! I’ll kill you! I’ll—”
Two bailiffs grabbed her.
Dragged her out, kicking and screaming.
The courtroom was silent.
Then the judge looked at Ethan.
His face softened.
“Young man. You are very brave. None of this was your fault. You are safe now. No one will ever hurt you again.”
Ethan nodded, his eyes big.
Then he leaned over and hugged Lena.
And then he hugged me.
Tight.
We walked out of the courthouse an hour later.
The sun was shining.
My mom was waiting for us outside, holding a big teddy bear for Ethan.
She hugged him first.
“I’m so sorry, baby. I’m so proud of you. You were so brave.”
Then she hugged Lena.
“Thank you. Thank you for protecting my grandson. You’re part of this family now. Always.”
Lena cried, hugging her back.
We went out for ice cream to celebrate.
Ethan got a triple scoop of chocolate, covered in sprinkles.
He laughed when it dripped down his wrist.
For the first time in months, I felt like I could breathe.
Victoria was gone.
She couldn’t hurt us anymore.
But as I watched Lena wipe ice cream off Ethan’s face, laughing, I knew.
The hard part wasn’t over.
Because now I had to figure out how to tell her how I felt.
May you like
Without ruining the best thing that had ever happened to my son.
And to me.
