Chapter 5 - THE NAME BEHIND THE WOMANThe first custody hearing became national news.
Julian arrived with an expensive attorney.
Beatrice appeared beside him.
Arthur remained in federal custody.
Then I walked into the courtroom.
Beside me stood Marcus Hale.
Julian saw him.
And froze.
He finally understood.
The quiet woman he had married wasn't an orphan.
She wasn't powerless.
She wasn't nobody.
She was Clara Hale.
The only daughter of one of the most powerful businessmen in America.
The judge listened as Julian's attorney attacked me.
I had manipulated the FBI.
I had destroyed the Vance family.
I was calculating.
Cold.
Dangerous.
Then Eleanor Voss, my father's attorney, stood.
She placed the medical report before the judge.
The photographs.
The witness statements.
Chloe's testimony.
Julian's messages.
The judge read everything.
Then she looked at Julian.
"You punched your eight-month-pregnant wife."
Julian said nothing.
"You then requested custody of the child whose birth you endangered."
Silence.
The judge ruled.
I received primary custody.
Julian was restricted to supervised visitation.
As I left the courthouse, cameras exploded around me.
But Julian caught my eye.
His lips formed two words.
May you like
This isn't over.
I believed him.
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