The Day My Husband Tried to Take Everything
My husband stood across from me in a family courtroom in Columbus, Ohio, and calmly told the judge that I was emotionally unstable, financially irresponsible, and incapable of raising our ten-year-old daughter.
He did not hesitate. He did not look ashamed. He simply adjusted the sleeve of his charcoal-gray suit and spoke as though he were describing a stranger instead of the woman he had been married to for nearly twelve years.
“Your Honor, I’m asking for primary custody because I genuinely believe my daughter needs a more stable home.”
His name was Derek Hollis. Once, hearing his voice had made me feel safe. That morning, every word coming from his mouth made me wonder how I had ever trusted him.
Sitting beside Derek was his attorney, a polished man with silver glasses who kept glancing at me as though the case had already been decided.
Behind them sat Sienna Cole, the woman Derek had moved in with several months earlier. She was twenty-eight, dressed in an elegant cream blouse and navy skirt, with one hand resting protectively over what appeared to be a small pregnancy bump. Every few minutes, she touched it while looking in my direction.
I tried not to react.
Beside me sat my daughter, Callie. She wore a pale blue dress I had ironed before sunrise. Her brown hair was tied into two braids that were slightly uneven because my hands had been shaking when I made them.
Callie slipped her hand into mine beneath the table. She was the only reason I had made it into that courtroom without falling apart.
