CHAPTER 21

Amanda’s POV

The hospital clock ticked louder than usual that morning, every second gnawing at my nerves. The hearing was scheduled for noon, and I still had three patient charts spread across my desk, begging for attention.

I hated leaving things undone, hated the idea of handing someone else my responsibilities when my patients trusted me. But today wasn’t about medicine. Today was about Levi.

And if I wasn’t careful, I could lose him.

I scribbled a final note in the last file and snapped it shut. My throat was dry, a tight coil wound beneath my ribs. I looked up and spotted a nurse passing by—Lena, one of the newer hires, the kind who always walked a little too quickly and seemed eager to impress.

“Lena,” I called. She stopped immediately, wide-eyed. “Could you grab me a drink from the lounge? Something quick. A fruit juice, maybe.”

She nodded, almost too eagerly. “Of course, Dr. James.” And then she was gone, her sneakers squeaking against the polished floor.

It was only after she disappeared that the weight of my request hit me. Fruit juice. I’d avoided it for months now ever since the first “incident” at that gala, the one Selene had practically orchestrated. I never proved the connection, but the dizziness, the strange fuzziness after drinking it… I should have known better than to risk it today of all days.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. Careless, Amanda. Reckless.

Before I could dwell on it, my phone buzzed across the desk. My lawyer’s name lit up the screen.

I snatched it up. “Yes?”

“Amanda,” his voice was calm but urgent, “you need to get here. Now. We’ve just been notified they’re moving the schedule up. Judge wants this on the docket earlier than planned.”

My pulse spiked. “I can’t—Levi—”

“Bring the nanny. Or leave him with her for now. You can’t be late. Not for this.”

My heart hammered, but I knew he was right. One wrong impression in court could tip everything.

“I’ll be there,” I said quickly, and hung up.

Lena hadn’t returned yet with the juice. Fine. Maybe that was for the best.

I ducked into my office, where Levi sat playing a handheld game. Beside him stood Camille, the new nanny mid-thirties, calm demeanor, someone Adam had personally recommended. Her soft brown eyes met mine, steady and reassuring.

“Camille,” I said, forcing my voice to stay level, “something’s come up. I need to go ahead to court. Can you stay with Levi until I’m back?”

She nodded. “Of course. We’ll be fine.”

Levi looked up, frowning. “You’re leaving already?”

My chest squeezed. I knelt beside him, brushing his hair back. “Just for a little while, champ. I’ll be back before you know it.”

He gave a small nod, trusting me in that blind way only children could. That trust settled heavy on my shoulders as I kissed his forehead and hurried out.

The courthouse loomed gray and imposing against the skyline, its stone steps crowded with lawyers, assistants, and reporters hovering for scraps of gossip. I tugged my coat tighter, ignoring the cameras as I slipped through the doors.

The smell of polished wood and paper hit me immediately. My stomach churned.

And then I saw her.

Selene.

She stood near the corridor leading to the hearing rooms, dressed in a fitted cream suit that probably cost more than my monthly mortgage. Her lips curved the moment she spotted me, a predator scenting blood.

“Well, if it isn’t the star of the day,” she purred, stepping closer. “Tell me, Amanda how does it feel knowing you’re about to lose?”

I stiffened, refusing to let her see the tremor in my hands. “You don’t scare me, Selene.”

“Oh, darling, I don’t have to scare you. I just have to watch while Ryan does what needs to be done.” Her smile sharpened. “And when Levi’s with us—when he finally has the family he deserves I’ll make sure you never work in this city again. Maybe not even in this country. You’ll be nothing but a bitter little memory.”

Her words slithered under my skin, but I forced myself to meet her gaze. “Funny,” I said coolly. “You’ve always been good at bluffing. Shame you’ve never been as good at winning.”

For a flicker of a second, the smile faltered. Then she stepped aside with a mocking tilt of her head. “We’ll see.”

I brushed past her, my jaw clenched so tight it ached.

---

The hearing chamber was colder than I expected, its high ceilings amplifying every shuffle of paper, every cough. Ryan sat at the opposite table, composed in his tailored suit, his expression unreadable. He didn’t look at me once—not directly.

But I felt his presence like a shadow crawling across the room.

My lawyer leaned toward me, murmuring instructions, but most of it blurred around the pounding of my pulse. I forced myself to sit straighter, to breathe evenly.

The judge entered, and proceedings began.

Ryan’s lawyer a sleek, silver-haired man with a voice like a scalpel rose first. His words were smooth, professional, but each one carried poison.

He painted a picture of me as unstable. Reckless. “Dr. James has recently faced disciplinary review at her workplace,” he said, flipping through a file. “Her professional conduct is under question. There are multiple witnesses to her erratic behavior including public incidents captured by the media.”

My fists tightened in my lap.

He didn’t stop there. He spoke of “a concerning pattern of exhaustion” visible in photographs, of “questionable judgment calls” reported within the hospital. Each word felt like a twist of the knife, carefully selected to erode my credibility.

Beside me, my lawyer whispered, “Don’t react. Let him dig his own hole.”

But it took everything in me not to rise, not to shout.

And then came the final blow.

The lawyer adjusted his glasses, looked directly at the judge, and said, “There are also repeated accounts that Dr. James has neglected parental responsibilities. On multiple occasions, she has forgotten to pick her child up from school, leaving him stranded. Is this the kind of environment we call stable? Is this the definition of a child’s best interests?”

My body went rigid. Heat flared in my chest, flooding my veins. Forgotten to pick him up? Once—once, after a double-shift when I was barely conscious. Levi had been picked up by a friend’s parent within ten minutes. That was their smoking gun?

I shot to my feet before my lawyer could stop me.

“That’s enough.”

My voice rang sharper than I expected, cutting through the courtroom silence.

The lawyer arched a brow, feigning surprise. “Dr. James?”

I turned to the judge, my hands trembling but my voice steady. “I will not sit here and be painted as a negligent mother because of one mistake. I am human. I work long hours because I save lives. But Levi has never—never—gone without love, without safety, without me fighting for him every single day of his life.”

The words echoed off the chamber walls, charged and raw. Ryan’s lawyer opened his mouth to object, but I didn’t let him.

“I know what they’re trying to do,” I continued, my gaze locking on the judge. “They’re twisting the truth to make me look weak, unstable, unfit. But I will not let anyone rewrite the life I’ve built for my son. He is my world. And no courtroom games, no money, no influence will ever change that.”

My lawyer gently tugged at my sleeve, signaling me to sit. I did, breathless, my pulse still thrumming like a drumbeat.

The room was silent for a beat, all eyes on me.

And in that silence, I saw Ryan shift in his seat, his jaw tightening. For the first time since the hearing began, he looked directly at me.

And I knew, then, that the fight was only just beginning.