After he parked the car, Simon hauled Gary out of the backseat. He was so drunk that Simon had to practically drag him up to the front door.
Simon grabbed the keys out of Gary’s pocket and unlocked the door. The house was a complete mess, but there was no time for that. He had no idea where Gary’s bedroom was, so he helped him down onto the sofa in the living room. Gary let out a loud groan and stretched his legs out on the sofa to lay down.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Simon asked.
“You’re not going to give me the money, are you?” Gary asked, his voice a pathetic whine.
Simon frowned. “Is that the real reason you barged in like that?”
“Yeah. The minute I saw Sophie’s post I knew you weren’t going to pay up. Why would you? You already have Heather. Already have her parents’ affection. Me leaving isn’t going to seal the deal for you.”
“This discussion is over, Gary,” Simon said flatly. “Call me when you’ve sobered up. Until then, stay the hell away from Heather.”
“Until next week’s court hearing,” Gary retorted in a menacing tone. “She’ll finally have to face me and what she’s done, and not even your money can stop that from happening.”
Chapter 12
Walking into the court house was the scariest thing she had ever done. She had been filled with anxiety at numerous times in her life. When she married Gary. When she gave birth to Finn. When she saw Simon again for the first time in years. But nothing made her heart pound the way it was now as she walked side by side with her lawyer Aaron.
Simon was right behind her, and as they walked through the doors of the courtroom his strong hand gently squeezed her shoulder. Having his support had kept her from completely falling apart. Especially in the week since Gary had crashed their family dinner and traumatized Finn.
She had made sure to tell her new lawyer about Gary’s drunken antics, and they had decided to include it as part of their strategy against him.
They settled in to their seats, with Simon taking his seat way in the back. They had managed to sneak in, so they would be shielded from media scrutiny, but Heather knew there was still a risk of a reporter seeing them here together.
Still, the courtroom was relatively empty; Gary was already seated with his lawyer. Most of the courtroom staff had already settled in. Now they were just waiting for the judge.
As she scanned the room Heather noticed Gary’s girlfriend, Tiffany, was sitting in the back as well.
The judge swept in and they all got to their feet as he was announced by the bailiff.
“First witness please,” the judge said.
That was her cue to sit on the witness stand. There wasn’t a jury or anything like that present to judge her, but that didn’t stop her heart from hammering. This was the moment where she knew she had to get everything right from now on. Her son was depending on her to protect him.
As she got to the witness stand to swear her oath, her thoughts drifted to Finn. Ever since Gary had made his drunken appearance at their family dinner, Finn had been more withdrawn. He seemed to think Gary’s unreasonable behavior was somehow his fault, and no matter how hard she and Simon had tried to reassure him that wasn’t the case he still seemed convinced he was to blame.
With the oath sworn she sat down, her body tensing as Gary’s lawyer approached.
“Good morning, Ms. Hall. I’m Charlene Howard,” Gary’s lawyer introduced herself with a smile, but Heather wasn’t fooled. She knew that his lawyer would be out for blood and she had prepared over the past two weeks for this.
“Good morning,” Heather murmured.
“Ms. Hall, how long were you married to your ex-husband?” Charlene asked.
“Almost ten years,” Heather replied.
“Why did you get married?” Charlene asked.
Heather frowned, recognizing the lawyer’s attempt to bait her immediately. “Could you elaborate on that question please?”
Charlene flashed her a cold smile. “Certainly. Did you marry my client for romantic reasons? Were you in love with him?”
“I...I did love Gary,” Heather replied truthfully. “Was it true love? Well, no, I don’t think you could call it that. But I respected him and was fond of him. When I got pregnant unexpectedly we both wanted to do right by our child.”