Scornful Revenge

Chapter Thirty-Four

The following morning, Tom and Alice sat outside as Daniel and Emma played together on their small playground equipment. Tom took Alice's hand in his and let out a sigh of relief when she hadn't pulled away.

"I think it's pretty clear why you and Jack are being called as witnesses." Alice remarked.

"It'll be okay. We'll meet with Hank and he'll prep us for it all," Tom told her. "Besides, if it is about our relationship, I never gave you favors, it was all based on merit and your work ethic, and I wasn't cheating."

"I know all of that but it's the fact we started as professor and student. This stuff is probably going to be public record and if anyone thinks to-"

"You honestly think some random person will think to request access to the public record of our case?" Tom interjected, laughing.

"You never know." Alice shrugged.

The two laughed lightly as Tom squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"Whatever she's planning on doing, she won't be able to prove a thing. Jack never knew and he 'resigned' because of what I got him recorded saying. Hank has the recording and all the dates we gave him. Diane has nothing on us and if she were to somehow let it out that she was my ex at the time, the judge might just even throw the case out due to the conflicting personal relationships." Tom explained.

"Yeah, but what if it's not about our relationship? What if it's just something to do with my college experience?" Alice retorted.

"We'll just have to wait until the twenty-eight. I'm sure Hank will prepare us and George well enough that any question Diane asks us will be answered flawlessly and won't reflect badly on us."

"Still, don't you think it's a little weird that she'd call on you and Jack as witnesses?"

"It is a little bit weird." Tom agreed.

Shortly after, Tom joined in with Daniel and Emma, pushing them both on the swingset as Alice watched on. Alice smiled brightly watching him interact with the two, loving how doting and affectionate he was with them. As she observed the three of them, she remembered the night of her pregnancy scare and how Tom painted the image of what their family would be like. He made everything sound so worthwhile and amazing. She had believed him then, but, as the years went by, Alice realized he had left out the truth. He never mentioned how difficult a marriage would be, how much they'd argue with one another, and how conflicted she would feel about her current situation. As much as she loved Tom, she knew that there was something off between them. She knew her reasons why and was still waiting for him to be ready to talk about the accident. She remembered how angry he had become when she pressed him for an answer. Some days, she was happy with the man she married, but other days she was upset with things he would say or do towards her. All she wanted was for him to have an open discussion with her about the accident, yet he still managed to evade the topic. Not wanting to admit it, Alice knew she didn't know how much longer she could go without having a conversation to fix the problems they had.

As if on cue, Alice's phone buzzed and she looked at the screen to see Esther's name pop up. She opened the message and read it over several times. When she heard Tom call out her name, she quickly locked the screen and directed her attention towards him. Before she could answer him to see what was wrong, she got her response by Daniel and Emma chanting out 'lunchtime.' Alice chuckled lightly as the two ran inside the house with Tom walking behind them. He helped Alice out of her chair and wrapped his arm around her waist as they entered the house.

Alice did her best to forget about Esther's text to try and focus on spending time with her family and being as present as possible. After putting the kids to bed, Alice was getting herself ready in the bathroom as Tom was reading a book in bed. She had locked the door and sat down on the toilet as she pulled her phone out. She opened up her messages and swallowed the lump in her throat as she read over Esther's text one more time. All she had said was: I need to talk to you one on one. Alice contemplated what she should text back with as her thumbs hovered over the keyboard. She then glanced towards the door of the bathroom and then back at her phone, her leg bouncing as she bit down on her lower lip. Alice knew that if she spent an odd amount of time in the bathroom, Tom would get worried, try and open the door, find it locked and then freak out. She took a deep breath, tried to steady her nerves, and began writing her response. Why do you need to talk to me?