Lover of Mine ~Chase Elliott

epiphany | 14

epiphany - a moment when you suddenly feel you understand, or suddenly become conscious of something that is very important to you.

J A D E     W R I G H T

I looked in the mirror, a very long look. Straightening out my hair, my dress, and my messy thoughts. I came to peace with my choice, I had no regrets even when I should. Call me crazy, but I was ready to risk it all... Because I loved Chase and I loved Mackenzie.

| f l a s h b a c k - m o n d a y    n i g h t |

Mackenzie and Chase and the trial consumed my mind all weekend and all day today. I sat on my couch, swirling my glass of wine, fighting with myself. Chase was spending his night at home with Mackenzie, possibly for the last time. It was hard to wrap my mind around that fact Chase could be spending his last night with Mackenzie, and that seemed all sorts of wrong.

"Fuck it." I gave in. I reached for my phone and dialed the number.

"Hello?"

"Hey John, it's Jade Wright, Mackenzie Elliott's teacher."

"Oh, hello Ms. Wright, how may I help you?"

"Sorry for calling so late, but I was wondering if you could possibly put me on the testify list for tomorrow? I'm sorry this is so late-"

"No, no, it's certainly okay Ms. Wright, you will really help Mr. Elliott and I with our case against Ms. Early. I will certainly put you on the list and update the judge for tomorrow's case." John replied, giving me relief. "I will notify Mr. Elliott-"

"Oh no, he doesn't need to know. He'll just talk me out of it, could we just keep this between us? For now?"

"Why certainly Ms. Wright, thank you so much."

We talked for about an hour. I gave Chase's lawyer my side of the story about the awful things I'd seen Lauren do. I told him what Mackenzie said to me just last week, about Lauren terrifying her and wanting to live with her father. I told the lawyer absolutely everything even Lauren's threat, Chase and I's relationship, everything...

| e n d     o f     f l a s h b a c k |

"You sure? You're risking your career today." Natalie said leaning on the wall, arms crossed. I knew she was disappointed in me, but I needed to do this. All my life, I've played by the rules and that's gotten me pushed around. I've always done what I've been told to do, but it was time to do what I wanted and not what Lauren wanted.

"I know Natalie."

"You love Chase, even if you don't want to admit it now," Natalie commented as I strapped on my heels. "If this was anyone else, you wouldn't be doing this."

"For the first time in a long time, Natalie, I finally feel like I'm going in the right direction. Not testifying for Chase and keeping my job is the easy option, but that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. And if I get fired? At least, I did the right thing."

| c o u r t h o u s e |

I nervously walked through the hall, looking for some familiar faces. The courthouse was busy for a Tuesday afternoon, you could tell half of the people didn't want to be here, I wasn't one of those people, I needed to be here.

At the end of the hall, I spotted Chase and other family and friends surrounding him. Chase spotted me as I walked up to the group, he still had zero clue about me testifying for him, hell he didn't even know I was coming in general. I should feel guilty for planning something like this behind his back, but I didn't feel anything.