Danielle’s POV
*****
The drive away from Simon’s house was—for lack of a better term—shameful.
And equally painful.
Remembering the confusion on poor Jeremy’s face while I yelled at his father in the most PG-rated way I could muster made my chest tighten painfully.
Simon’s words rang in my head in a repeated cacophony that was driving me nuts.
“I’ve instructed him to file for full custody of Jeremy.”
Full custody.
How the fuck did I get here?
My eyes were getting wet fast and I didn’t like it.
Every red light I encountered on my drive to Vesper Nail Studios made me want to ram my car into a wall.
“He’s got some guts,” I laughed dryly, sniffling back the tears in my eyes.
“I’ll give him that. He… he ruined my life already with the cheating. N–Now this? Oh God.”
With a trembling breath, my eyes fell on my phone.
“Siri, call Kimberly.”
The call connected as I used a hand to dab off the snot gathering in my nose and the blurriness in my eyes.
I shouldn’t be dumping my shit on her.
But right now I had no one else to vent to—except my mom, whom I really didn’t want to bother about the latest episode of Simon’s shit right now.
“Hey, babe.” Her cheery voice should’ve made me crack a smile at least.
I didn’t.
“Hello? Danielle, I can hear car horns. Don’t tell me you’re calling me while driving.”
“I–I ain’t holding the phone.” I failed to hide the crack in my voice.
“Girl, he finally did it. Simon finally crossed the damn line.”
There was a short pause from the other end, as though she was trying to decipher what that meant.
Obviously, she couldn’t.
“What do you mean?” she asked first, adding right after.
“You know what? Where are you headed to right now?”
“I just want to—move the fuck outta the way!” I yelled out of my window, glaring at a man crossing too sluggishly with a phone pressed to his ear.
He turned to me and called me the B-word but I gave him a middle finger, driving off once he was out of the way.
“I’m sorry, Kim.” I sucked air through my teeth.
“There was this dude on the road—”
“Danielle?” She cut me short.
“Tell me where you’re headed. Come on, boo.”
Right.
“I’m heading to the studio.”
“Good. You’ve got any drinks in that back office of yours?”
“… How did you—”
“Yes or no?”
“Bitch, yes.” I caught a wry smile playing on my lips.
“I’ll be there faster than you can say happy hour.”
She hung up.
I spent time taking peeps at the rear-view mirror, wiping off the wetness trickling down my cheeks.
I should probably skip work today and head home.
But home had Anzari aka Bobby in it.
I wasn’t about to add neglect by a god to my already unbearable problems.
★★★★★
At Vesper, I barely spared Whitney and the other girls a look.
I just smiled in response to their greetings, quietly making my way to my office in the back.
Breathe, Danielle.
The idiot is only filing for full custody.
It doesn’t mean he’s taken your son yet.
Not without a fight.
As I told myself that, another part of my mind, the one that had grown tired of Simon’s bullshit, couldn’t help but wonder.
Did I really have the strength in me for a ‘fight’?
With a weary sigh, I pushed myself back up and wandered toward the small liquor cabinet tucked against the office wall.
There weren’t many bottles inside.
Just a few expensive ones I’d received over the years as gifts from clients during the holidays.
My fingers settled on a sleek bottle of premium vodka.
“Today’s your lucky day,” I muttered, pulling it free.
The glass felt cold in my hands.
A knock echoed through the office barely thirty seconds later.
Without waiting for permission, Kimberly strolled in wearing oversized sunglasses, a cropped leather jacket and a smile that probably lit the room outside.
The second her eyes landed on the bottle, her brows shot up.
“Damn,” she whistled, shutting the door behind her.
“I was expecting wine at most. Not the type of alcohol that burns away childhood trauma.”
A weak laugh escaped me.
“I figured if I’m going through a custody battle, I might as well lose my liver too.”
“Now that’s the spirit.”
I snorted despite myself before twisting the cap.
Sadly it didn’t budge.
I tried again.
Still nothing.
“The hell?” I grunted, tightening my grip before putting my entire arm into it.
The stupid thing refused to budge.
“Oh, come on!” My teeth clenched.
Kimberly watched the struggle for several seconds before extending a hand.
“Give it here, babe.”
I stared at the bottle.
Then at her hand.
Before I knew what was happening something inside me simply broke.
The vodka slipped from my fingers onto the desk with a dull thud.
My face crumpled before I could stop it.
“Oh, Danielle…” Kim barely got the words out before I began crying.
Definitely an ugly cry from the way I struggled to breathe while my shoulders shook uncontrollably.
Kim crossed the room in two quick strides and wrapped both arms around me.
“Hey, hey…” she murmured, rubbing slow circles over my back.
“No. Don’t do this to yourself.”
“I can’t,” I choked out.
“Kim, I can’t believe he’s doing this.”
Fresh tears rolled down my face.
“He cheated on me. Humiliated me. Blew up our marriage and now…” I swallowed another sob.
“Now he wants to take Jeremy too.”
Kim held me tighter.
“You cannot let Simon of all people destroy you like this.”
“I’m trying.”
“I know.” She kissed the top of my head.
“But we’re not giving that man the satisfaction of watching you fall apart.”
Kim reached across the desk, grabbed a box of Kleenex, and handed it over.
I blew my nose with absolutely zero dignity.
“There she is,” she smiled softly.
“Now listen to me carefully. Simon might have money. He might have one hell of a lawyer. But neither of those things guarantees full custody.”
I dabbed at my swollen eyes.
“You really think so?”
“I know so. Family court isn’t some auction where the richest parent automatically wins.” She leaned against the desk.
“Did he even say what grounds he’s using against you?”
I let out a humourless laugh.
“He claimed I’ve become… unstable.”
Kim’s expression flattened.
“Unstable?”
“Apparently some of my neighbours have been complaining.” I rubbed my temple.
“They told him they’ve heard me shouting in the middle of the night.”
Heat flooded my cheeks.
“They,” I buried my face in both hands.
“They never saw anyone come into my house.”
Kim blinked once.
Then her jaw dropped.
“Danielle.”
“I know!”
“You’ve been screaming because of a new rose toy?”
Horror snapped the tears all the way to fucking Hogwarts.
“What the fuck, Kimberly?!”
“What?” She doubled over laughing while I contemplated moving to another continent.
“Forgive my mind for immediately going there. It was either that or the spider you got.”
Now my face burned so hot I thought it would melt.
“I hate you.” Because really—she’s got no idea.
“No, you don’t.” Still chuckling, Kim reached over and twisted the vodka bottle cap.
POP!
It came off effortlessly.
“…Traitor,” I muttered at the bottle.
Before either of us could pour a drink, my phone buzzed across the desk.
The smile vanished from Kim’s face.
Mine too.
From this angle, we could both see who the notification came from.
My attorney—Attorney Rain.
I opened it immediately.
> Danielle, I’ve just been served electronically with Mr Simon Carter’s Petition to Modify Custody and Parenting Time.
He is requesting sole legal custody and sole physical custody of Jeremy, alleging a substantial change in circumstances and claiming it is in the child’s best interests.<
I skimmed through the legal jargon and skipped to what she said at the end.
>Call me as soon as you receive this.
We need to respond immediately.<
My fingers went numb around the phone.
“Kim.”
She looked up as I slowly turned the screen toward her.
“He…” My voice barely came out above a whisper.
“He already filed.”