Soon, Charlene finished her line of questioning and the judge began his remarks.
“I won’t be making my final decision about custody today,” the judge said. “Today was just a preliminary hearing, so nothing is final yet. However, some of the things I heard today disturbed me greatly. Ms. Hall, going to such lengths to keep a father from his own son has profound negative effects on a child. I’m not one to believe salacious gossip in the press, but your ex-husband’s testimony has raised some very grave issues that need to be addressed. With that, I’d like to adjourn for today.” The judge banged his gavel, rose, and swept out of the room.
She didn’t know how she found the strength to make her way out of the courtroom, but when she did she threw her arms around Simon to keep from crying. Gary was already scurrying away with his horrible lawyer, so at least she didn’t have to contend with him now.
“Did you hear what he said?” She bit her lip, needing the pain to distract her from the tears pricking the back of her eyes. “He lied, Simon. How could he lie like that?”
Simon pulled back to gently stroke her cheek. “Gary is a real piece of work.”
“Now we know he’ll stop at nothing,” Aaron said grimly.
“How bad is it?” Heather asked.
“The judge seems to be leaning towards Gary,” Aaron said. “It...it doesn’t look good, Heather.”
“Is there anything I can do?” she asked.
“We can try to go after Gary, but he’s got an advantage. I know the judge says he isn’t swayed by the media, but all those scandals in the press have given him a bad impression of you,” Aaron said. “The only way to salvage this is to hit Gary hard.”
“We need to get dirt on him,” Simon said firmly. “I know you don’t like the idea of digging through his life, Heather, but we need to get every bit of dirt we can on him. A man like that has to have skeletons. The only way to save Finn is to destroy his father.”
Chapter 13
“Do you still need to be convinced?” Simon looked across the table at her, worried she would push back against him at any moment.
Heather was sitting beside Aaron in one of the conference rooms of Jones, Chang, & Associates, both of them poring over legal documents.
She paused to look up. Heather had washed her face before they had left the courthouse, but her eyes were still red and puffy from crying. She still held herself in check. It was impressive.
He clenched his jaw, hating every minute that she suffered because of her ex-husband. After Simon had suggested they go after Gary, she had fled to a bathroom without saying a word in response. During the drive to Aaron’s law firm she had sat in complete silence, too shaken from her first day in court to say much of anything.
Simon had come along for moral support, but from the forlorn look in her eyes he was starting to wonder how much good his presence was actually doing.
“No, I don’t,” she said finally. “I don’t need to be convinced to go after Gary, because I’ve made up my mind.”
“What have you decided?” her lawyer asked gently.
“I hate that we have to do this.” She let out a pained sigh. “But Gary hasn’t really given me a choice. We have to go after him. You were right, Simon, so you can go ahead and say you told you so.”
“I don’t want to gloat,” Simon said, shocked that she could think so badly of him. “Heather, being right is the last thing I wanted.”
“I’m sorry. That came out wrong.” She lowered her eyes, crossing her arms on the desk as if she was fighting to get back some semblance of control. “You both told me to go after Gary but I didn’t listen.”
“You were simply trying to do right by your son’s father,” Aaron said. “That’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“I don’t even know what right and wrong is any more,” she said. “If we hold back and let Gary win, then Finn will end up with a selfish father. If we go after Gary, I’ll basically be ruining him.”
“But Heather, if you’re so sure you’re going to be ruining him, don’t you think that means he’s up to something?” Simon asked. “I mean, if even you think he’s got skeletons in his closet, it doesn’t exactly speak well of his character.”