Everything & More (Book 1 in the E.C.N Series)

Chapter 85 - Martha

The judge called a 30 minute recess, Lori and I were standing in a private conference room waiting for Ms. Freeman to get back. She said she had an important phone call to make.

"What happened in there?" She said pacing the room as I leaned against the table. I couldn't take my eyes off the door waiting for Ms. Freeman to come back. "I mean, he lied. He lied! Straight to her face. What the fuck was that?!"

She was right. What the fuck was that? "I have no idea." I straightened myself turning away from the door, letting out a breath. "He never flat out admitted it."

Lori stopped pacing, "What?"

"I said it in the mediation, he just sat there with that guilty look on his face. But a look isn't going to get me out of having to pay all that money back when the loan is due."

"By the way, where's Ryan? I saw he dropped you off." I hadn't told her everything that went down between Ryan and I. How he gave up being a CEO partly for me. How Jonathan was blackmailing him. I still wasn't sure how I felt about all of it.

"I didn't want Jonathan to have any ammunition when it came to Ryan being present. Ms. Freeman thinks Mr. Cunningham is going to try to accuse me of an affair to take the pressure off Jonathan."

Lori looked as annoyed about that as I did when I first heard it, "Fucking lawyers." She muttered.

There was a light knock on the door before Ms. Freeman slipped in. She had a tight smile on her face. It wasn't genuine she looked weary.

"Everything okay." I inquired.

"Yes, we should be heading back."

"Ms. Freeman."

Her eyes focused on me, "Yes."

"He lied."

"Exactly." She said with a nod.

Lori seemed taken aback, "Wait you were expecting him to lie."

"Men like him always do." She said a matter-of-fact. I shook my head still not believing Jonathan would dig his heels in. "I know he seems sincere when he apologizes but at the end of the day. The idea of how much money he could owe and seriousness of our claim means he is going to do whatever it takes to survive. Even lie on the stand."

~~~~~~

"Mr. Cunningham you may have the floor." The judge spoke resuming the trial.

Mr. Cunningham stood buttoning his suit jacket, "I would like to call Ms. Carso to the stand."

My head whipped around to Ms. Freeman, the pounding in my chest was bleeding to my ears.

She lowered her voice, "Remember we knew this was a strong possibility. Just how we practiced." I nodded slowly before standing up and looking into the gallery. Lori was right behind me just like she promised she would be giving an encouraging smile.

The seat is higher up than I thought, everything truly feels on the spot up here. I can tell the minute Mr. Cunningham sees that I'm settled. The first question is out of his mouth before I can process, "Ms. Carso, who pays the bills in the house?"

"The bills are split."

"So everything is split 50/50?"

"No."

"How are they split then?"

"We had an agreement that he would handle a certain amount and I would handle another."

"Can you explain?"

"Like the electric, water, food, and wifi. I pay for those."

"Who pays for the mortgage?"