He Forced Me To Abort Now He Begs Me Back Chapter 18
On the day of the temporary hearing, Evan wore a dark suit, his hair perfectly combed.
He sat on the opposite side of the courtroom with his lawyer and never once looked at me.
Diane was seated behind him, a pearl brooch pinned to her chest. Her expression was mournful, as if she were the one being wronged.
Evan’s lawyer spoke first.
“My client has never harmed this child. He simply made an imperfect choice when another child’s life was at risk.”
An imperfect choice.
Three words to whitewash the fact that he had been willing to trade Aurora’s life for his own peace of mind.
The lawyer went on, arguing that I hadn’t informed Evan when I gave birth, nor had I sent him a single photograph, which supposedly proved my intent to sever the father-daughter relationship.
The judge looked at me.
“Ms. Bennett, are you planning to leave the state of Colorado?”
“No, Your Honor.”
“Have you refused to allow the child to build a relationship with her father under safe and appropriate conditions?”
“No, Your Honor.”
I paused.
“What I have refused is to allow a man who used financial coercion, public pressure, and emotional manipulation to try and force me to terminate my pregnancy to take my infant daughter alone, without any professional evaluation or supervision.”
The courtroom went still.
My lawyer stood and submitted the fundraising dinner video into evidence.
On the screen, Evan stood under the bright lights, smiling at the camera.
“Leah has agreed to terminate the pregnancy and resume the donor evaluation.”
The camera panned to the audience.
There I was, frozen in my seat, my face ashen.
Evan finally lifted his head.
He glanced at the screen for a second, then quickly looked away.
Next came the texts he sent after freezing the accounts.
“Until you learn to look at the bigger picture, the household finances need a cooling-off period.”
“If you won’t cooperate, I’ll make sure you walk away with nothing in the divorce.”
The judge flipped through page after page without speaking.
Diane couldn’t stop herself. She shot to her feet.
“There were reasons for all of that! Mason was dying!”
The bailiff ordered her to sit down.
She glared at me, her lips a thin white line.
The judge struck the gavel once.
“This hearing concerns the best interests of Aurora Bennett, not the Cole family’s preferred narrative for their past conduct.”
In the end, Evan’s request for emergency unsupervised visitation was denied.
The court appointed a child and family investigator to evaluate both of us. Until that report was complete, he would be limited to one hour of supervised visitation per week at a professional facility.
Diane was explicitly forbidden from acting as a supervisor and from being present at the visitation site.
After the hearing, Evan caught up with me in the hallway.
“Leah, I’m not trying to take her away from you.”
I stopped, but I didn’t turn around.
“In your petition, you asked for custody every Wednesday night through Sunday morning.”
“My lawyer said that was just the standard request.”
“But you signed it.”
He went silent.
I finally turned to look at him.
“Evan, first it was Natalie. Then it was your mother. Now it’s your lawyer. Every time you do something wrong, there’s always someone else for you to blame.”
The color drained from his face.
“But the court only looks at your signature.”
I turned and stepped into the elevator.
Just before the doors closed, I saw Diane hurry toward him.
She didn’t comfort him.
She raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face.