My Forever

by J. L. Perry

  “I love you, too, Brooke. I really appreciate your support and belief in me.” I can tell he is trying not to get emotional and my heart is breaking for him. I can only imagine how he is feeling right now. His whole future is riding on today.

  I don’t say anything else because I can feel my own tears rising to the surface. Crying in front of him right now will only add to the stress he is already under. So, to hide my tears, I do the only thing I can—I kiss him like my life depends on it.

  His father arrives a few minutes later and I can tell that he is worried, too. He doesn’t say much and the dark circles under his eyes tells me he hadn’t slept well.

  Once they leave, the tears I’ve been holding in come bursting out of me. When Logan’s mum arrives ten minutes later, she finds me sitting next to the elevator, crying. She pulls me into a hug and cries with me. I know she is feeling just as scared and worried for her son as I am. When our tears stop, she asks me to go upstairs and fix myself up because we need to get going. Michelle is meeting us there because she has to take Lara to school first.

  I feel sick when we arrive at the courthouse. My hands are shaking and I feel like I am going to bring up my breakfast any second. I don’t think Logan’s mum is feeling much better. She was very quiet on the drive here and is looking awfully pale.

  We wait outside the courthouse for Michelle. There are a lot of reporters already camped out front, so Logan’s mum takes me around the side of the building so we can wait in peace. She quickly calls Michelle and lets her know where to meet us.

  When she arrives, the three of us walk inside, hand-in-hand. The media takes some pictures of us on the way in. They also try asking some questions, but we ignore them. I know they are just doing their jobs but, at that moment, I hate them. I want to scream at them and tell them how much damage they are causing my husband, but I know that won’t get me anywhere.

  Before we walk into the courtroom, I stop and pull myself together. I’ve never done this before, and I am finding it hard to keep my emotions in check. When I walk in and seen Logan sitting with his father and his attorneys, I think my heart actually skips a beat. I watch him as we make our way over to some seats a few rows behind him. My father and Mike are already there, so we sit next to them. Logan hasn’t noticed us yet. He is in a deep conversation with his father, and he looks stressed.

  When he finally turns around and notices me, his shoulders slump and the colour drains from his face. I can tell he isn’t happy to see me here. He shakes his head and runs his fingers through his hair. I feel bad that I am adding to his stress. When he looks at me again, I mouth, Sorry. I love you. He puts his head down, like he is having an inner debate with himself, before looking up and giving me a small smile. I am relieved. I hope he realises that I am here to support him, not to disobey him. In my heart, I know I am doing the right thing.

  He continues to talk with his father, who is leading the legal team today, but he looks over at me every so often. I give him a small smile every time he does to try and reassure him that I am alright.

  When the judge finally arrives, the bailiff asks us all to rise. Michelle and Logan’s mum both grab my hand. I am grateful that I’m sitting between them because I need their strength and support right now.

  Since arriving, I’ve been so busy watching Logan that I haven’t even noticed Kristy, whom I’ve never met, sitting with her lawyer on the other side of the courtroom. I can’t see her face because her back is to me. All I can see is her long blond hair. I don’t know her, but I don’t like her, either. Never have I had an overwhelming feeling to hurt someone, but I am having that feeling right now. Thinking about the harm she’s caused to my family has my blood pumping. How someone could make up such life-destroying lies about someone else is beyond me.

  I feel Michelle squeeze my hand so I look at her. She is watching me look at Kristy. She’s obviously noticed the change in my body language because she shakes her head at me and whisper, “Don’t let her upset you. She’s not worth the stress.” I just give her a small nod and turn my attention back to Logan.

  Once the proceedings have been going for about twenty minutes, Kristy is called to the stand. I still can’t see her face as she walks over to the witness box, but I can feel my body stiffen as I watch her. I look over at Logan and he is glaring at her.

  The bailiff walks towards her with a bible in his hand. When she reaches the stand, she steps up into the box and turns to face us…and my heart drops. Kristy is the girl that I’d seen crying in the café with Logan’s aunt! My mind is racing while I try to make sense of what I’d seen that day. All of a sudden, it hits me. I let out a loud gasp, as I put my hand to my mouth.

  Logan turns his head and looks at me. I can see the concern in his face. He is worried about me. I don’t know what to do. I quickly whisper in Logan’s mum’s ear, explaining what I’d seen that day in the café. I’ve never heard her swear before so I am shocked when she mumbles, “That fucking bitch.”

  She quickly grabs a piece of paper out of her purse and starts to scribble something on it. After tapping the man in front of us on the shoulder, she asks him if he would pass the note to her husband. She then turns and whispers something in Mike’s ear. He nods at her, before getting up and leaving the room, taking my father with him.

  Thankfully, Logan’s mum is taking action because I’m still in shock. To think I actually felt sorry for Kristy that day. Now I know why she went so pale when I approached her. She must have recognised me from all the photos Logan has in his office.

  Once Logan’s father reads whatever is in the note, he quickly stands up to address the judge “Your honour, I have just been given some evidence that could be imperative to the case. I would like to request a small recess.”

  The judge doesn’t look too impressed, but replies, “Very well. Would two hours be enough, Mr. Cavanagh?”

  “Yes, your honour, Thank you,” he answers.

  The judge smashes his gavel down on the desk and I jump. “Court will re-adjourn in two hours,” he says before looking over towards Kristy, who is still in the witness box. “Miss Adams, you may step down.”

  We immediately get up and make our way out of the courtroom. We stand out in the hall, waiting for Logan and his father to join us. When they finally come out, all hell breaks loose. Logan’s dad starts screaming, and his mum starts crying. I didn’t notice Mike standing down the hall on his phone, but when he hears us, he quickly makes his way over.

  Logan’s father is furious. Logan looks confused and he gently grabs my arm and leads me away from everyone. “What the hell is going on, Brooke?” he asks in an angry whisper. “My father said you have some evidence that could help the case. He wants to call you to the witness stand. I don’t fucking want you up there!”

  “I have to get up there,” I reply, before telling him everything I’d seen that day in the café.

  “Well, fuck me.” I think he is shocked, too. He quickly pulls me to him, holding me tight. I just wrap my arms around him because I don’t know what else to say.

  After a minute, I feel his body start to tremble a little. I think the shock is wearing off and the anger is starting to settle in. “I knew she was a nasty piece of work, but I never thought she would stoop this low,” he says through gritted teeth.

  Michelle makes her way over to us. “Dad wants us all to go into that room down the hall,” she says. “I got most of the story as mum relayed it to dad. I am so sorry, bro.” She is rubbing his back as we walk down the hall.

  Once we are all seated, Logan’s dad looks over at me. “Honey,” he says, “I don’t want to do this to you, but I really need to get you up on the stand. What you saw that day is the answer to all our prayers. I know Logan didn’t want you here today, but I am thankful you disobeyed him and came anyway. Otherwise, we would still have no answers. I am positive there was money in that envelope you saw my sister pass her that day.” God, I hope he is right because it could be our one link to proving that this wa
s all a set-up.

  “Mike is checking her bank account again as we speak,” he adds. “But if she wasn’t stupid enough to bank it, we are hoping she at least paid off her overdrawn credit card and her rent that was in arrears. That would, hopefully, be enough to show she has recently come into money. We know for a fact that she hasn’t worked since she made these ludicrous claims. I want Kristy to tell her story first, though, because then we can also get her for lying under oath.”

  Logan reaches over and grabs my hand. I look over at him and smile. I am so glad that I was in the café when I was. This is the miracle for which we were all praying.

  Logan’s father says that my father is currently back at the office getting a Subpoena drawn up to be served on his sister.

  The thought of getting up on the witness stand is a bit daunting, but there is nothing I wouldn’t do to save my husband. I just hope what we all think was happening that day was exactly that.

  I know how much grief his aunt gave Logan after my father left her. She had threatened to destroy him a number of times. If I hadn’t seen her that day in the café, she probably would have gotten her way.

  There isn’t much more we can do while we wait for Mike and my father. The rest of the legal team is talking and making calls. So his mother, Michelle, and I decide to leave them to it.

  Once we step outside the room, Logan’s mother envelopes me in a giant hug. “I don’t know how to thank you,” she says, her eyes filling with tears. “I always knew that he was innocent, but I didn’t think we had a hope in hell of proving it.” The three of us decide to go and get a drink from the café across the street, while we wait.

  When we return about an hour later, our hunch is confirmed. Mike has the evidence we need. Kristy has paid all her bills, and now has a bank balance of just over five thousand dollars. Logan’s aunt had also made a withdrawal of ten thousand dollars the day before I had seen them in the café.

  How someone could sell their soul for ten thousand dollars is beyond me. I’ve struggled without money a lot of times throughout my life, but the thought of ruining someone’s life for money is just unthinkable.

  My father has also returned, bringing Claire with him. Once Mike has all the evidence he needs, he arranges for a detective friend of his to serve the Subpoena on Logan’s aunt before escorting her to the courthouse. The sombre faces we all had a few hours ago are replaced with smiles.

  When it is time go back into the courtroom, Logan grabs me and gives me a huge kiss. “I can’t thank you enough, babe. You are my fucking hero,” he whispers in my ear. “I can’t wait to show you how much I appreciate you when we get home tonight.” He gently slaps my arse before walking out of the room, a huge smile on his face. I haven’t seen him smile like that since this nightmare began. I can’t help but smile, too.

  CHAPTER NI

  NETEEN

  Logan

  The dread I was feeling this morning is suddenly lifted as we walk back into the courtroom. I finally have the confidence that everything is going to be alright. To say I am shocked that my aunt is behind all this would be an understatement. I know she hates me and blames me for what went down with my uncle and her. If she wants to be honest with herself, though, it is all her own doing.

  I fucking hated her before all this, but now she just disgusts me. I should feel sorry for her because of what is about to happen, but I don’t. She’s brought all this on herself, and I know that she doesn’t feel sorry for me while I have been going through all this shit. I try to put her out of my mind because I am now feeling fantastic and I don’t want her to spoil my good mood.

  I do feel sorry for my dad, though. Over the years, he’s always defended his sister for some reason. He is the only one in the family who still spoke to her. I’m positive that he won’t after today. When the girls left the room earlier, the things that he said about her shocked even me. Saying he is furious with her is an understatement. I understand, though, because I know how I would feel if someone purposely tried to destroy my child’s life. The fact that it’s his sister, our own flesh-and-blood, just makes the situation so much worse.

  Once we are all seated back in the courtroom, I can’t help but smirk when I look over at Kristy. I notice she keeps looking back towards where Brooke had been sitting earlier. Now that Brooke is going to be giving evidence in the case, she has to sit outside the courtroom and wait to be called.

  Kristy looks nervous, and she has every right to be. After the hell those two bitches put me through the last few months, I am going to enjoy watching them both get what is coming to them. I’m not usually the sort of person that gets pleasure out of watching other people suffer, but these two deserve everything they get.

  The judge comes back into the courtroom, and Kristy is called back to the stand. Her lawyer has asked her to recount what happened the night she claims I attacked her. I listen, but she just rehashes what is in her police statement.

  I smile when it is my father’s turn to question her. This is going to be fun. When he produces the original documents stating she is struggling financially, she doesn’t react, but when he produces the current documents, the colour drains from her face. She recovers quickly, though, and then claims that she’d won some money in the lottery. She really isn’t very bright. I am sure if she had time to think about it, she would have realised that if she had won money on a lottery ticket, it can be easily traced.

  Her lawyer tries to object to my father’s line of questioning, saying it is irrelevant, but the judge lets him continue. When he informs her that he believes someone paid her to lie and say that I had assaulted her, her lawyer objects again. This time, my father lets it go. “I have no further questions, your honour,” he says. The judge tells Kristy to step down.

  My father then calls Brooke to the stand. She does a great job recounting what she’d seen that day at the café. The fact that Brooke had tried to help a complete stranger, who was upset, just makes me love and admire her more. She has a heart of gold. I wish she told me about what she had seen, but I understand why she didn’t. She also had no way of knowing, until today, that it was connected to the case.

  When my father asks Brooke if she can identify the girl she had seen crying that day, she doesn’t hesitate when she points to Kristy. I look over at Kristy, who is now visibly upset. I can also see her hands trembling as she brings them up towards her face.

  I am surprised when her lawyer says he has no questions. I think he can see where all this is leading.

  My father then calls his sister to the stand. When she is brought in, she doesn’t look too pleased. She does have a smug look on her face, though, and I am going to enjoy seeing my father wipe it right off.

  Once she is sworn in, he asks her if she knows, or ever had any dealing with, the plaintiff. Of course she denies it. He then produces her bank statement and asks her about the ten thousand dollars she’d withdrawn recently. At first, she doesn’t answer. She just glares at my father. The judge tells her to answer the question, but before she gets a chance, Kristy stands up.

  “She made me do it!” Kristy screams, before breaking down.

  The gasps that I hear from the spectators are drowned out when we hear my aunt reply, “You stupid little bitch!”

  The judge bangs his gavel on his desk. “Order! Order!” He asks Kristy to approach the bench. He is asking her questions, but we can’t quite make out what he is saying. After talking to her for a few minutes, he looks at my aunt and then back at Kristy. He shakes his head and then asks the court-appointed officer to arrest both of them.

  Kristy breaks down again, but my aunt screams at my father, “How could you do this to your own flesh-and-blood, you bastard?!” I can see my father’s face go red and I know he is about to lose it. Before he has a chance to reply, she is led from the room.

  What a fucking hypocrite. I am her flesh-and-blood too, and she didn’t think twice about doing this to me! She deserves whatever she has coming. The media is going to have a fi
eld day with this.

  Finally, it is all over. All the charges are dropped against me and this whole fucking nightmare has ended. I can’t even describe the relief I feel. For the past few months, I’d felt so weighed down by all this. It is hard to believe that it is finally over.

  Kristy is pretty distressed as she is led out of the courtroom. She looks straight at me as she passes, mouthing, I’m sorry. I don’t know how to feel about that. Part of me feels sorry for her, but the other part is angry. She is the one who made the choice to go through with this. If Brooke hadn’t witnessed what she did that day, she may have gotten away with it.

  There are lots of tears and hugs before we leave the courtroom. I am so thankful to all of them for sticking by me throughout all this, that I am going to take them all out to celebrate.

  When we walk out of the courthouse, I am shocked by the amount of reporters standing there. I’d been harassed by a few this morning when I arrived, but now they are everywhere. It hasn’t taken long for the word to get out.

  My father makes a quick statement on my behalf. When I am asked how I feel about the outcome, all I say is, “Relieved that the truth finally came out.” I’m not going to give them any more. These are the same parasites that had tried to crucify me over the past few months, so they can go fuck themselves as far as I am concerned.

  We decide to go to a restaurant not far from where we live for a late lunch. It is the one Brooke and I go to often. We are regulars and know the owner quite well. When we arrive, I tell him that we are celebrating and ask him to send us out a bit of everything. I also order some bottles of champagne and a juice for Brooke. I want to make a toast and thank everyone for all the support they’ve given me.

  Brooke’s father has gone back to the penthouse to collect Jill and Angel. I miss my little girl and I want her with us. She is happy to see us when she arrives, and Jill gives me a big hug and kiss before congratulating me on the outcome of today.