Chapter 4

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean?" Emery barked. "Aren't you the one trying to cut ties with your son? Why are you dragging me into this mess?

"Besides, I turned over a new leaf ages ago. Everyone goes through a rebellious phase as kids anyway.

"Caleb isn't 15 anymore. He's 35 and perfectly capable of deciding who he wants to love and date. What gives you the right to interfere in our lives?"

Then, she drawled a long, knowing "oh" and continued, " I get it now, you pervert. Your wife can't move or satisfy your needs, so now you're eyeing my body, aren't you? You wanted to keep Caleb away from me so you could crawl into my bed, right?

"I let it slide when you secretly stole my underwear, you absolute monster! If you didn't want your son carrying on the family line, why did you bother having him in the first place? You might as well keep your pants zipped!"

The onlookers in the gallery frowned as they listened to her crude outburst, yet they found themselves nodding along. Emery's words were vulgar, but her logic struck a chord.

Voices from the crowd chimed in to show support.

"His wife is gone, and his heart is empty. That's why he starts to itch when he sees a good-looking woman who knows her way around a bed. I bet he's seen Emery as his mistress for a long time."

"This old pervert has a massive playbook. If he cuts ties with Caleb, he can assault Emery without anyone standing in his way."

"Exactly. Emery's been working the alleys for years and knows how to handle manipulative men of all ages. How could a sick pervert like Bruce ever let her go?"

"He's masterfully manipulative. The poor son is so brainwashed that he's still begging not to cut ties."

…

The curses and insults grew progressively louder, crashing against my eardrums.

I bit my lip hard and clenched my fingers tightly. Even as I forced myself to stand up and fight back, everything went dark, and I collapsed back onto the couch.

Caleb wheeled his wheelchair to my side and sobbed. "Please… I beg you all. Stop talking!

"It's true that Dad secretly hid Emery's underwear and tore up our photos together… but he did nothing wrong. He's just too lonely…"

With a single sentence, he pushed me further into the abyss. Things I had never done were now set in stone by a few words from Emery and Caleb. Someone behind me even spat at me.

Caleb turned back to me, patted my hand, and curled his lips into a mocking smile. "It's fine, Dad. Loneliness is normal for people your age. Everyone will understand."

For the first time in 35 years, Caleb felt like a complete stranger. His smile felt like a venomous snake tightening around my throat.

The shoutings, ridicule, and accusations around me seemed muffled behind a thick glass pane while I stood alone amid the chaos, unable to hear anything but my heartbeat.

In that moment, something in me seemed to shatter.

I flung Caleb's hand away and raised my voice to reclaim my ground. "Caleb, you got the second question wrong, too."

Caleb's smile froze on his face. His expression rapidly shifted back to a practiced look of deep sorrow.

"Final question," I said, my fingers trembling slightly around the microphone in my grip. "Why haven't I spoken a single word to you for the past ten years?"

He didn't even pause to think. Instead, he let out a cold laugh and quickly replied, "It's because I married Emery."

I gently shook my head. "That's right, but it's also wrong."

He tightened his grip around his wheelchair and snapped back somewhat impatiently, "What the hell are you even trying to do, Dad? You'll never be satisfied no matter what I answer, will you?

"Mom will absolutely despise you if she knows how you treat me today."

The facade I had held up since entering the courtroom finally cracked. Tears I had been fighting back broke free, and my hands shook violently as I tapped on the playback button to play the security footage.

Looking at the footage on the screen, everyone in the room gasped.