“I know how much your company is worth now,” she said.
I stared at her, confused.
“Sign over fifty-one percent of the business,” she continued smoothly, “and I’ll drop the case.”
I felt like the floor had disappeared beneath my feet.
“And if I don’t?”
She shrugged.
“I’ll take the boys and move out of state.”
My lawyer was kind but honest.
“Courts often give biological parents a second chance,” he explained. “Especially if they claim they’ve changed.”
The hearing was scheduled quickly.
The boys insisted on coming.
“I want the judge to see us,” George said firmly.
So there we were.
Vanessa’s lawyer spoke first.
He described her as a grieving widow who had once struggled but had “rebuilt her life.”
Vanessa wiped tears from her eyes.
“I made mistakes,” she said softly. “But I want to reconnect with my sons.”
