Chapter 3

Emily's POV 

Four weeks after that very day, I stood at the table in the courtroom close to my lawyer, holding back the tears that were threatening to fall down my eyes, but I had promised myself never to cry before him again.

"Miss Emily Carpenter, is it true that you had a drinking problem in the year 2012, due to depression and loss of both parents?"

"Yes, your honor." I responded 

"Up until 2017, when you met Mr. Henry, who helped you through your drinking and self-harm?" 

"Yes, your honor," I responded.

"Is it also true that you find it hard to control emotions and act aggressively when provoked and have been taken to juvenile court more than once because you were a disturbed teenager?" 

"Yes, your honor, but Henry pushed me when I tried to stop him. My bruise wasn't as a result of self-harm, rather domestic violence." 

"Miss Emily, you are deviating from the main question; all your claims have no proof; you claimed he married someone else, but there are no pictures, and the same with the physical abuse but no proof too, but if I check these reports here, it is said that you caused self-harm to yourself in the past, and I am right?" 

All these were things Henry knew about me, all because I had told him about my past and he chose to use it against me at the final moment. 

"Yes, your honor" 

"Aside from your husband's money, what else do you have to support your children, since you have stated here that you won't be taking any of his money?"

"I own a clothing brand, your honor." 

"Your clothing brand, which isn't earning much, is to sustain you and your children with the lifestyle they want. I am sorry to inform you that if you want full custody of your children, you need to earn more, this argument is pointless, you are unstable mentally and emotionally, without a functioning business."

"My business will kick off your honor, I am confident in myself."

The only reason why my personal business wasn't as great was solely because I had spent my entire time helping Henry grow his own business. And all through the judgment, he took credit for being the sole reason why he was as rich as he was now. 

I could already tell I had failed the case, I was not going to have full custody of my children, at least not in a fair fight. Henry and I had filed for divorce, and all I asked for was full custody of my children, because they were all I had, but with all that had just been dug out of my past, it was obvious I wasn't going to have any custody of my children at all.

Henry looked at me, with a grin smudged on his lips.

"Miss Emily, I won't be permitting you any custody of these children because it's obvious you can't care for them, when they are eighteen years old and liable to make their decisions you can come see them." 

My world came to a halt, but I already saw it coming.

The court closed and I took my things ready to leave when Henry walked up to me, his eyes glimmered with joy as he stared at me. He leaned closer to my ear, then whispered 

"I am always one step ahead, baby." I didn't respond, mostly because it was pointless having to fight.

My car was open, and it was time for me to leave. I had told my children all I wanted to tell them. In these past three weeks I had given them a camera in secret and I recorded all I needed to tell them, they knew I wasn't going to come back home after the final court case. It was our final day in court and the verdict was given. 

The moment I spoke about divorce, I knew Henry would find a way to turn it against me, he had bought the judge, so my effort was pointless.

I cleaned the tears in my eyes.

Then I kissed the pictures of my babies. I was going out of the country, and I wasn't going to return till they were of age to see me again.

"Take me home."

"Yes, ma'am," he said.

All along my eyes were focused outside of the car, and when I finally arrived, my sister Joan was standing patiently at the patio waiting for me with her hands wide spread.

"Oh baby!" She pulled me in for a hug; she hated Henry so much she didn't want to see him, so she waited for me back home in tears just to avoid picking up a fight. 

"I am so sorry, momma. I am sorry it had to happen to you" she wept.

I pulled away then cleaned her eyes. "Hey, don't cry; it's just going to be a few years. I will be fine,my babies will know I loved them, and I told them all their father had done, and they know I had to leave too, so I am happy; this is a sign to start over again." I kissed her forehead then walked into the house.

She followed me in.

"I cooked your favorite food , come and eat." 

"Sure," she said, placing two plates on the table then began to dish out food.

"Now what do you want to do? Because Grace is only six years old and Noah is four, twelve years is a long time to wait for them to be of age to talk to you" she said.

Well, I was aware of that, but I wasn't going to stay in the country and wait around. He already made me hate the city as it was, so I booked a night flight out of the country, and my flight leaves in about seven hours.

"I am traveling, out of the country, to start over." 

"To where?"

"To somewhere quiet, you will know when I get there."

We feasted for a while then caught up with each other, but then she had to run a quick business errand so she couldn't follow me to the airport, and I had to go alone.

My car just dropped me off. I was an hour early.

I sat on the waiting bench while staring at a plane that had just landed. Ripples of cold ran down my spine; this was it—a very big leap in my life—I would finally start over again. 

I checked my time again. Thirty minutes to the flight, and I was anxiously waiting, but then an announcement was made that my plane had been canceled due to some inconvenience.

"You gotta be kidding me!, seriously!" I yelled, totally infuriated by the sudden disappointment. 

Everyone waiting to catch the same flight as me was equally disappointed.

Like my day couldn't get any more worse, I just felt like this was the universe's way of telling me to end it all. I called my sister, but her phone was not reachable.

The last thing I wanted was to go back home because I had become so claustrophobic around familiar spaces.

Taking in a deep breath, I began to walk down the aisle. Lost in thought, I collided with someone on my path, causing my bags and phone to fall from my hands.

"Oh, so sorry," the man I had collided with said as he leaned down to pick up my things.

I could barely see his face because he was mostly covered in beards and he had a face cap. If he didn't look physically fit, I would have considered him an old man because his beard was gray and so was his hair.

He placed everything in the other, then removed his cap; his face looked so familiar. I spent the next second trying to decipher where I had seen him. damn! It was Henry's father.

My cheeks flushed. I had no idea he was this good-looking in person. I had only seen him in pictures, never in person. 

Woah…

"Uhm, I, um." I had no words to say. Should I cuss him or tell him what happened between me and his son?

"You don't look so good. Are you okay?" He looked genuinely concerned, and I felt so sad about it, what do I do now? He didn't know who I was.