Not Us: Briggs & Jacqueline

**Chapter 11**

**TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter touches on the topic of miscarriage, but there are only a few mentions of it in this chapter**

Chase's POV

I was completely fucking thrown for a loop when our lawyer came back and told us what her lawyer had said. She'd had a miscarriage three days ago. She was eight weeks pregnant. That was my baby. The baby that she and I had talked about and decided she would get off her birth control to help us have. I'd fucked so much up in such a short time.

Fuck.

Somehow that court case didn't go as planned. Her lawyer handed Ruth and me, our asses. He'd told the judge he knew it was unusual, but his client had questions she wanted answers to, and after today, she'd have nothing to do with either of us. She was always so damn high and mighty. But his questions threw me for a loop.

"Mr. Smith, were you aware that my client, Miss Thorne, had told your parents, who agreed to pass on to you, that she did not want to see or talk to you, and her childhood home, which she inherited from her parents, was private property with no trespassing signs?"

"Uh...yeah? I helped her put those signs up after her dad died. She said she wanted to make sure no one bothered it."

"And are you aware that she has a security system?" I tried to hide the smirk because I knew. I also set that one up.

"Yes. I set that up." Her lawyer smiled.

"Thank you. Just one more question, Your Honor. My client would like to know if you ever loved her. At all in the three years you'd been together."

That made me pause. Of course, I loved her. I just wasn't ready to settle down like my parents wanted me to. I couldn't say that though, because I'm now engaged to her best friend who is pregnant with my baby. So, I say the only thing I can think of at the moment, "At one point, I'm sure I did. I really am sorry for hurting you, Jacquie."

She turned her head to the side and closed her eyes, looking like she'd just sucked on a lemon or heard nails on a chalkboard. Was that what I was to her now? Something she couldn't stand?

I guess it was my own doing.

It still hurts though.

When I stepped down, Ruth stepped up and answered his questions. Her questions were very similar to mine. Did she know what had been asked of her parents, she answered yes, her mom told her. I looked behind me to see her mom grinning. Did she know about the new security system she'd put in recently? She answered, no. I looked over at Jacqueline and behind her, I noticed Ruth's brother and father.

What the hell? Wait. What did he just ask?

New system? Then he asked when Ruth quit being friends with Jacqueline. Her answer was a little too honest.

"In college. She became someone all the guys wanted, and even though I'd seen and hooked up with Chase before her, as soon as he saw her, she was all he wanted. Everyone had always liked her better, and frankly, I was just sick of it and annoyed with her. Finding love in Chase was a blessing."

Oh no. That was not good.

"No further questions." Our lawyer put his head in his hands, shaking it back and forth. Ruthie looked so fucking proud of herself. I wanted to punch something. If she were a man, I would have. The judge nodded and was about to hand down her verdict when Jacqueline's lawyer interrupted.

"Your Honor, based on the answers to their questions, my client would like to have a restraining order placed against both of them. They trespassed on her property while she was not in the country, and we have video evidence of this. We also will be pressing criminal trespassing charges."