His stepdaughter {Waterloo Road}

Nineteen

Things in the Tyler house were tense. Evie hated how Max had stopped her from seeing Tom. He didn't even care that he was the father of her baby.

When she woke that morning, she walked downstairs. She frowned as she saw Max talking to a guy. "Who's this?" She asked as she looked at him.

"This is Mark. He's my lawyer. I'm going for full custody of the baby from Bailee. And before you even say anything, it's because of you that this is happening. You couldn't keep your mouth shut at all could you? Telling her about how I apparently blackmailed you," Max said.

Evie rolled her eyes and glared. "You need to get a grip. There is no way you'll get custody of the baby. Bailee won't let you," she said as she grabbed her jacket. She went to walk off when Max grabbed her arm. "Don't even try and bribe me into keeping this quiet. Because I'm not. She needs to know. And I'm going to tell her. You can't stop me either," she said.

Max said nothing as Evie walked off. Deep down, he knew he was in the wrong. But he couldn't help himself. He didn't want to miss out on being a father again. He felt like he had messed up with Evie.

***

Evie arrived at school. She walked over to Bailee and sighed. "I need to tell you something. My dad will hate me. But I don't care. You need to know," she said.

Bailee frowned as she turned to her best friend. "What?"

"My dad. He's talking to a lawyer. About getting full custody of the baby from you. He says he doesn't want to miss out on being a father."

Bailee looked to her. "Please tell me you're joking. Evie. I can't go against him in a custody battle! I may as well just hand the baby over to him now."

Evie shook her head. "No. Because I'm going to help you. You're not losing your baby. I promise. I will help you. I will happily go against my father. He's banned me from seeing Tom or he's kicking me out," she told her.

"Come and stay with me. My mum won't mind. And you can see Tom all you want," Bailee said as she smiled. She didn't want her best friend to suffer. "My mum will be okay with it. I promise you."

Evie nodded. Thankful she had someone else who was there for her. She didn't want to admit but all of the stress with Max was getting to her.

***

Evie was sitting in the common room. She looked up as Tom walked in. He smiled. "Hey. You okay?" He asked as he sat opposite her.

Evie shrugged. "I don't know. My father has been acting up again. He's talking to a lawyer about getting custody of the baby. I've told Bailee and I don't know what my dad is going to do about it," she sobbed.

Tom frowned. He took hold of her hand and smiled. "You're not alone. You've got me. I promise."

Evie wiped away the tears and nodded. But she had no idea just how much things with her and Max were about to change. And it wasn't going to be easy. Especially when truths were about to be revealed.