Chapter 1
Imagine having to choose between your parents in a courtroom. Every child deserves to be heard, but at what cost?
I was sitting three rows behind my 11-year-old son when the judge asked him the question I had been dreading for months.
“Ethan, do you understand why you’re here today?”
He nodded, but his hands were shaking.
My ex-husband, Michael, sat across the courtroom with his attorney.
He hadn’t looked at me once.
For six months, we had been fighting over custody.
Michael told everyone I was keeping Ethan away from him.
I told the court there was a reason.
But there were things I couldn’t prove.
The judge leaned forward.
“You are not responsible for what happens between your parents.”
Ethan looked at me.
Then he looked at Michael.
My heart broke because I could see him trying to decide which one of us he was allowed to love.
The judge asked, “Where do you feel safest?”
Michael’s attorney immediately stood.
“Your Honor—”
“Sit down,” the judge said.
Ethan swallowed hard.
“With my mom.”
Michael’s face changed.
I closed my eyes for a second.
Then Ethan added, “But Dad told me if I said that, I’d never see him again.”
The courtroom went silent.
Michael jumped to his feet.
“He’s confused!”
Ethan flinched.
That tiny movement made the judge stare at Michael.
I wanted to run to my son, but my lawyer grabbed my wrist.
“Stay seated.”
The judge asked Ethan, “Has your father said anything else to you about today?”
Ethan started crying.
Michael shook his head at him.
That was when Ethan reached inside his jacket.
He pulled out a small phone I had never seen before.
“Dad gave me this.”
Michael’s attorney went pale.
Ethan placed it on the witness stand.
“He told me I had to delete the messages before Mom found them.”
The judge asked the bailiff to bring the phone forward.
Michael suddenly shouted, “That phone is private property!”
Everyone turned toward him.
The judge unlocked the screen.
May you like
Her expression changed almost immediately.
Then she looked at Michael and said, “Mr. Carter, I think custody is no longer the only issue this court needs to discuss.”
