My Love Isn't Fickle

Elena's POV

"I know about your illegitimate child too Damian not just his

mother"

Damian froze, his eyes narrowed slightly, just a glint of disbelief

before his expression smoothed back into his controlled self. But I

could see it the brief crack in his armor, the moment he realized I

wasn't bluffing

I hadn't come here to play games.

He didn't speak right away, as expected that wasn't his style, No

Damian preferred to let his silence work as a weapon, a

manipulative tactic to make his opponents lose guard, to make them

question themselves. He leaned back in his chair, his gaze still on

me before finally speaking"I'm not sure what you think you are doing" he said slowly "But this

won't work in your favor"

"I know everything you've been doing" I replied "I know how long

you've been doing it for"

Damian's lawyer, Adam Snyder, stood abruptly his face smeared

with frustration "Your Honor, this is nothing more than a baseless

accusation meant to distract from the real matter at hand Mrs.

Herrera's claims are irrelevant to these proceedings..."

"Irrelevant?" My voice rose before I could stop it "I think it's very

relevant that the man sitting across from me has been cheating on

me for three years of our nine-year marriage and he even had the

guts of having a child with her!"

There it was, the truth exposed for the world to see

A low murmur rippled through the courtroom whispers going

around between the spectators.

I could feel most of their eyes on me, on him, judging, waiting for

him to say something about the infidelity accusation I just threw at

him.Damian's lips twitched into the faintest smirk, but it wasn't

amusement that caused that smirk, it was anger, he leaned forward

slightly resting his hands on the table as he spoke

"You think this is going to win you custody of our child Lena? So

you resort to spewing lies about me?" a humorless chuckle escaped

him "How desperate could you be?"

Desperate. That was what he saw when he looked at me now, the

woman he'd once promised to love.

"I'm not the one who's been unfaithful" I said softly

I could feel my lawyer, Evelyn Hershey's composed presence beside

me, she'd warned me about today, about the risks of mentioning his

illegitimate child "It's a low blow" she'd said "The courts don't like

when personal issues get involved with the legal If you have to play

this card, make sure it's not your only one"

Involving a child in this mess, a child who had nothing to do with

the battle Damian and I were fighting felt incredibly wrong, but I

wouldn't let him keep my child away from me,

Especially now that I was carrying another, a little secret of my ownMy hand intuitively moved toward my abdomen, the small curve

that no one had noticed,

I wouldn't use this child as a weapon, even though I know how fast I

would win custody of our daughter, Hazel if I did. But I couldn't.

Not now

Instead, I focused on the child who had already been born, the one

who had lived in secrecy thanks to Damian and his baby mama's

lack of honesty, I would use him to get full custody of my daughter.

The judge cleared her throat, drawing our attention back to her as

she looked between Damian and me

"Mrs. Herrera do you have evidence to support your claim?" she

asked

"Yes Your Honor" I replied, nodding toward Evelyn, who slid a

folder across the table.

Inside were the documents I'd spent months gathering: bank

transfers, messages, photos, all of it pointed to one undeniable

truth, Damian Herrera had a child and he had lied about it.The judge flipped through the folder, the room was silent again

"Mr. Herrera, do you have anything to say in response to these

claims?" the judge asked her gaze settling on him

Damian didn't answer right away, of course, he leaned forward

slightly, his eyes locking onto mine.

"This is a private matter, Your Honor," he said smoothly. "One that

has no relation with a child, a non-existent one at that"

The judge set the folder down and spoke

"This court takes all matters of parental responsibility and infidelity

seriously Mr. Herrera" she said "If these claims are found to be true

they will bear on the outcome of this case"

Damian's jaw clenched, and I caught the briefest show of emotion

he couldn't quite hide, well.

He wasn't invincible, after all

Adam stood "Your Honor, we'd like to request a short recess"

The judge nodded "Granted, we'll reconvene in thirty minutes" With a bang of the gavel, she rose, and the court session was

adjourned

I stood slowly, my legs a little shaky threatening to give out but I

kept my composure and head held high, I could feel Damian's eyes

on me, but I refused to look at him.

Evelyn leaned close, her voice low. "You did well Elena, let's take

thirty minutes"

I nodded and we stepped out into the hallway I allowed myself a

moment to breathe

Evelyn led me to a small room off to the side of the courthouse, as

soon as we were inside, I collapsed into a chair, and as a cold

shudder racked through me, Evelyn watched me for a moment

before speaking.

"He's going to come at you hard after this" she said "You need to be

ready"

running a hand through my brown curls, I let out a deep breath "I

know.""Are you?" she asked "Ready that is, because this isn't just about

exposing his secrets anymore Elena, it's a custody battle and we all

know Damian is more than willing to fight for Hazel"

I looked down at my hands, she was right of course, this was bigger

than just Damian's lies.

This was about our child, the one we had raised together, the one he

was trying to take from me.

But there was something else too, a part of me that wondered if I

had gone too far by bringing this other child into this mess had

crossed a line Was I prepared to drag an innocent life through the

mud just to win this?