“But it’s all bullshit! She didn’t keep away from Saylor because of any mental health issues! She admitted that to me. She kept away because she liked her life better without a kid. The only damn reason she came back is because she needs something. This has nothing to do with my daughter being better off with her mother in her life. Honestly, as much as I despise Maya, if she had come back with a true desire to see her daughter—really had some mental health issues and regretted leaving her the way she did—I’m not sure I would try to keep them apart. Saylor deserves a mother. But this woman—she doesn’t deserve Saylor. She’s doing this for the wrong reasons, and I need to do everything in my power to protect my daughter from that evil.”
Phillip nodded. “I get it. I really do. And I’m absolutely on board with fighting this every step of the way. I don’t want you to think I’m not, Colby. But the paperwork she’s got here paints a different story than the one you’re telling me. She has independent professionals swearing she suffered from a mental condition and has worked hard to get to a better place for the sake of her child. What do you have to prove your story is the one the judge should believe? Unfortunately, more often than not, it’s what you can prove is true and not what is actually true.”
I felt like throwing up. “So are you saying I should’ve recorded what Maya said to me? Unlike her, my mind doesn’t work that way. The last thing I was thinking about when she knocked on my door was building a legal defense.”
He shook his head. “Of course. And I’m not saying you needed to record her. In fact, even though New York is a one-party consent state—so only one person needs to consent to being recorded—it’s still inadmissible in court unless we can find an exception. Not much is black or white in the law, unfortunately. I’m just laying things out the way a judge is going to see them. We can absolutely have you testify that Maya has an ulterior motive, but it may come down to our word against hers.”
I dropped my head into my hands and yanked at my hair. “Jesus Christ. This is insane. What am I supposed to do? Marry her?”
“It wouldn’t be ethical for me to advise you to enter into a sham marriage for the sole purpose of securing a green card. But since the subject of marriage has been raised, and immigration is not an area I’m too familiar with, I took the liberty of reaching out to an immigration attorney in this building. Adam’s a friend of mine, and he’ll give you a free consultation. At least that way, you’ll have all the information you need to make an informed decision on how you’d like to proceed.”
An hour and a half later, my head was spinning as I walked out of the second attorney’s office. I wanted to run straight to the liquor store and drink until I couldn’t think anymore, but my little girl was at my parents’, and I knew Billie was anxious to hear how my appointment had gone, too. So I sucked it up and went to pick up my daughter.
“Hi. How did it go?” My mom opened the door looking almost as stressed as I felt. I probably shouldn’t have filled her in on everything when I dropped off Saylor earlier today, but she’d taken one look at me and been convinced I was hiding a terminal disease.
I walked inside and looked around. “Is Saylor taking a nap?”
Mom shook her head. “Your father took her out to the park.”
I nodded and pulled out a seat at the kitchen table, heaving a big sigh.
“I’m going to make us some tea,” Mom said.
“Thanks.”
A few minutes later, she set two mugs on the table and slid into the chair across from me. “Do you want to talk about it?”
I frowned. “I want to rewind time and make it stay four days ago forever.”
“Not good news?”
I stared down into my tea. “I just can’t believe this is happening. My choices are basically to take my chances in a custody fight or marry a woman I loathe and chance up to five years in prison if I get caught attempting to marry someone for the sole purpose of evading immigration laws.”
My mother covered her heart with her hand. “Oh my.”
“Tell me about it…”
“Does the attorney think you would have a good chance at winning full custody?”
I shook my head. “He thinks Maya will get some sort of visitation. Which means I’d have to explain who she is to Saylor and risk Maya disappearing again once she got what she really wanted out of things. I can’t trust this woman with Saylor’s heart, Mom.”