“You are aware that I’m a lawyer as well, right?” I stepped off the stand. “I know exactly what he’s trying to do.”
I stepped out of the court and outside into a heavy snowfall, looking up at the sky. I considered leaving the courthouse and risking contempt, but a part of me wanted to help seal the deal on Kevin’s fate.
It’d been a long time coming—all the lies, the betrayal, the pain, and he deserved whatever he was going to get.
Someone tapped my shoulder from behind.
“You got a minute?” A familiar voice asked. Kevin.
“I don’t.”
“I figured…” He sighed. “Whatever happens at the end of this trial—”
“Did you not hear what I said?” I spun around to face him, taken aback by how haggard he looked up close. Time hadn’t been good to him at all.
“I’m sorry for everything me and Ava put you through,” he said with a genuine look in his eyes. “The money and clients were coming in so fast and we were all so young…”
“Young?”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “Young and dumb, you know? It was—”
“Dumb as f**k.” I clenched my jaw. “But it was more than stupidity, Kevin. It was greed. And when the newspapers started to put the pieces together, when the clients started demanding answers, you both turned on me. You blamed me…You filed for custody of Emma, knowing damn well you didn’t really want her. You just wanted to hurt me since you were her biological father.”
“Liam…”
“And you did.” I could honestly admit that once and for all. “You really f**king did…”
“If I could take it back—”
“You can’t.” I cut him off. “But you can tell me one thing…”
“What is it?”
“The night you ruined my life…Well, not the first night, the night that came months later, were you drinking?”
“What does it matter now?”
“Were you f**king drinking that night?” I glared at him and he sighed, looking down at the ground.
“Yes…”
“Thank you for finally being honest.” I scoffed. “I’ll sleep even easier at night knowing that you’ll be joining Ava behind bars after this week.”
“Ava’s back in prison?” He looked hurt, disappointed.
“Nine more years.” I smiled, but it quickly faded. “Six more than what Emma got.”
I didn’t give him a chance to respond. My heart was clenching at the thought of losing Emma again, at imagining all the pain she must’ve felt on her last day, so I shut my eyes—trying to block another dark memory from passing by.
Reasonable Doubt (n.):
Not being sure of a criminal defendant's guilt to a moral certainty.
Six years ago…
Liam Henderson
Living in New York never felt ordinary. Every day there was something new to discover, something I’d never seen before.